Harold R. Squires

Harold R. Squires, 87, passed away on Friday, Sept. 12, 2014, from an accidental fall.

He was born on July 22, 1927, in Eau Claire, Wis., to Lisle and Cecile (Turnacliff) Squires. He was the oldest son of three children, along with a sister, Donna Lee, and younger brother, Leon.

Harold's family moved from Wisconsin to the Wild Rose Community in Baylor, Mont., roughly 40 miles north of Glasgow, to live at the Lisle Squires farm. He spent his early childhood on the farm and went to two years of school at the Wild Rose School.

During the depression and constant drought, his father, Lisle, moved the family to Glasgow to start a new life away from the farm in 1933. Lisle got a job helping construct the Fort Peck Dam in the Fort Peck area. While living in one of the many boom towns around Fort Peck, Harold was in charge of getting the fireplace going at the West Galpin School. This required him to walk a couple of miles early every morning, regardless of the weather conditions, to heat the school up before the other children arrived.

His family then moved into the town of Fort Peck, where he went to school through the 8th grade. He went to high school in Glasgow where he graduated with the Class of 1945. He was already enlisted in the Army Specialized Training Reserve Program (A.S.T.R.P.) and entered the Army at the end of World War II.

In 1946 he started his 36 years of federal service with the Army Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Reclamation and the Western Area Power Administration.

He married Myrel Remme in Glasgow in 1949. His best man was Harris Smith and Myrel's matron of honor was Donna Lee Squires. He and Myrel lived in Fort Peck for a few years until they moved to Pickstown, S.D., where he went to work at the power plant. His job required them to move to Yankton, S.D., where they adopted a daughter, Kelly, in 1961, and son, Ken, in 1964.

The Squires family moved to Watertown, S.D., in 1964. He worked as a power dispatcher for the Watertown Operations Office until his retirement from federal service in 1982.

He enjoyed golfing, hunting, boating and bowling during his years in Watertown.

Kelly and Ken grew up in Watertown and enjoyed small town living. They both graduated from high school there.

After retiring from his government position in 1982, he took a job with Tri-State Generation Transmission Association in Broomfield, Colo. He worked there until 1990. Once he was fully retired, he still enjoyed golfing and hunting but also started bicycling around the country and climbing many of the beautiful Colorado mountains that were over 14,000 feet.

Kelly, who moved to the Denver area, also enjoyed golfing and snow skiing with her dad. Ken enjoyed golfing and hiking with his dad whenever he had time to come from Lincoln, Neb.

Harold and Myrel often traveled to Montana to see Mitch and Donna Lee Etchart, Leon and Helen Squires, Al and Lee Combs, and Harris and Helen Smith and their families. They also enjoyed visiting the Black Hills and South Dakota where they had many friends. He went on the Rocky Mountain Honor Flight to Washington, D.C. in 2012, with other veterans from Colorado.

He and Myrel loved Colorado and enjoyed living at the Gate N Green retirement community in Broomfield. They had many friends there and Harold was known as a generous man with his time and would help fix things for anybody in need.

His wife of 63 years, Myrel, passed away in 2013 after an ongoing illness. Harold stayed busy traveling to see friends and family after her death. He was interested in finding out more information about the history of the Squires family and was involved with that until the time of his death.

A military service was held in Denver, Colo., on Sept. 26, honoring his service to his country.

Survivors include one daughter, Kelly, of Arvada, Colo.; one son, Ken, and his wife, Vicki, from Lincoln, Neb.; three grandchildren, Amber, Matt and Nicole; one sister, Donna Lee Etchart and one brother, Leon Squires, both of Glasgow; several nieces and nephews, including, Danielle Anderson, Rita Gallagher, Paulette Etchart, Paul Etchart, Vicki Combs Shanks, Mark Combs, Gary Squires and Dale Squires.