Gerald Loscheider, Sr.
courtesy photo
Gerald Loscheider, Sr.
APACHE JUNCTION, ARIZONA - Gerald Joseph Loscheider, Sr. passed from this world on April 30, 2025, at the age of 99 in Apache Junction, Arizona. Gerald, (or Jerry as he liked to be called in his later years), was born on Dec. 9, 1925, although his birth certificate transposed the filing and birth date and thereafter had his birth date as Dec. 11, but his mother, Magdalena (Lena) Mittelstadt, and father, Jospeh (Ignatz) Loscheider, knew when he entered the world at the Golden Valley, North Dakota, hospital. He was the oldest of eight children, the only one born in a hospital, and was preceded in death by all his younger siblings. He spent his early years living in and around Dunn County, North Dakota, and in 1942 at the age of 17 left North Dakota to join the Navy with the permission of his parents. He served on the ship the USS Hatfield and patrolled Alaskan waters convoying merchant ships to port and carrying supplies for the establishment of bases in the north. In March 1944 the ship returned to Seattle, Washington, and was decommissioned in December 1946.
Returning to North Dakota after the war, he married Shirley Granfor of Dunn Center, North Dakota, in Las Vegas, Nevada, on New Year’s Eve 1950. After a trip through the Southwest, they made their home in Killdeer, North Dakota, for two years before moving to the Ferdig-Oilmont area in north-central Montana in July 1952, where they made their home until 1967. Gerald worked in the oilfield in various positions during that time and later described those jobs as the most enjoyable he ever had.
In 1967, Gerald and Shirley bought a ranch west of Ronan and moved to western Montana. In addition to raising cattle, Gerald also worked at the lumber mill in Polson when they first arrived in the western part of the state and later for the Flathead Irrigation District. In the 1980s Gerald and Shirley began wintering in Arizona where they resided at Countryside in Apache Junction. After Shirley’s death in 2014, Gerald started staying in Arizona most of the year. As a couple they loved to square dance, bowl, and golf, and card playing was an integral part of Gerald’s entire life. He also enjoyed reading a variety of topics, but especially history.
Gerald is survived by two daughters, Mavis (John) Greer and Renee (Tim) Murphy, and one son, Jerry (Kathy) Loscheider; three grandsons, Brian (Melissa) Greer, Kevin Loscheider, and Craig (Julie) Loscheider; and six great-grandchildren, Lena, Austin, and Lillian Greer, and Aiden, Jacob, and Joshua Loscheider. He is also survived by sister-in-laws, JoAnn Gestring, Beverly Loscheider, and Margene Granfor; and brother-in-laws, Wayne Granfor, Joe Franchuk, and Andy Piatz, as well as many close nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his wife, Shirley; three brothers, Darrell, Donald, and Edward; and four sisters, Dorothy, Evelyn, Lillian, and Marian. He is also survived by and preceded in death by numerous special friends at Countryside Resort in Apache Junction.
There will be a celebration of Gerald’s life in Montana this summer as well as burial of his and his wife Shirley’s ashes at the Veteran’s Cemetery in Missoula.
