Donald Belden

TORRINGTON, WYO.... Funeral services, with Masonic Rites, for DONALD L. BELDEN,82, will be held at 10:00am on Thursday, September 21, 2006 at the Colyer Funeral Home Chapel with The Rev. Mary Jellison officiating. Burial, with Military Honors, will follow in the Valley View cemetery. Don died on September 16, 2006 at the Torrington Community Hospital. Visitation hours will be held at the funeral home on Wednesday, September 20 from noon to 7pm. The casket will be closed at the service. Those who wish may direct memorial contributions to the Torrington Senior Friendship Center. Arrangements are under the direction of the Colyer Funeral Home and friends are invited to send condolences to the family at www.colyerfuneralhome.com Don was born on April 28, 1924 in Bridgeport, Nebraska the son of Charlie and Valeria (Tinsley) Belden. He grew up and received his education; graduating from Bridgeport High School in 1942. He then enlisted in the US Army Air Corps and was assigned to the 391st Bomb Group at MacDill Field in Tampa, Florida. Following technical training, Don was shipped overseas where he served during WWII in England, France, and Belgium with campaigns in Normandy, Battle of the Bulge, and others. After his discharge, Don returned to Bridgeport, Nebraska in 1945 and he married Vida Lea Hascall on September 15, 1946. Don then went to work for Northwestern Bell telephone company on a line crew in Nebraska and South Dakota. He returned to Bridgeport and continued to work with Northwestern Bell where he became the manager. He went to Alliance, Nebraska for a short time before moving to Grand Island, Nebraska in 1976. He retired in 1982 and the couple moved to Leesburg, Florida in 1987. His wife died in 1990 and Don moved to Ocala, Florida for a short time and then to Dayton, Ohio to be with a daughter, Becky. In 1997 Don moved to his own home in Torrington, Wyoming and later he lived with a daughter, Paula in Torrington and finally he moved to Yoder, Wyoming to live with a daughter, Julia. Don was a past member of the Lions Club and the American Legion in Bridgeport, Nebraska. He belonged to the Episcopal Church in Bridgeport , Alliance, and Grand Island, Nebraska. Don was also a lifetime member of the Telephone Pioneers of America and the 391st Bomb Group Association. He served as Past Master Councelor of the Court House Rock Order of the DeMolay at Bridgeport and was member and Past Worshipful Master of the Ashlar Lodge #33. He was a member of many other Masonic Lodges, Temples, the Tehehema Shrine, and Order of Eastern Star. He is survived by his three daughters, Julia Onken of Yoder, Wyoming; Becky Bangert and her husband Gary of Orlando, Florida; and Paula Schoenemann and her husband Stan of Crawford, Nebraska; eight grandchildren, Christina Carter, Annessa Miller, Monica Dirscherl , Curtis Bangert, Nicholas Wendell, Kathryn Sears, Jonathan Wendell, and Robert Wendell; ten great grandchildren, and his faithful friend, his dog, George. He was preceded in death by his parents, his wife, and one grandson Anthony Bangert.

Donald Belden

April 28, 1924 - September 16, 2006