Bert was born on October 18, 1925 to Thomas David and Lulu Mary (Cotton) Stroup in Sheridan, Wyoming, and passed into eternity on February 6, 2012 after a four year battle with multiple myaloma.

His family homestead was located on Four Mile Creek, Montana and they lived there until about 1931, when the family moved to Sheridan. He attended the Four Mile country school and Sheridan schools, graduating with the class of 1943.

He joined the U.S. Navy in February 1943, serving as an Aviation Machinist Mate Third Class until the end of World War II.

Bert and Luella (Lu) M. Reynolds met at the First Baptist Church as teenagers. They married on January 12, 1945 in Berkeley, California and they recently celebrated their 67th anniversary.

They returned to Sheridan following the war, and he was among many servicemen who found jobs wherever they could. Bert and Lu were caretakers at Camp Bethel in the Big Horn Mountains in the late 1940's. He was employed by local ranches and then decided to attend Northwestern Bible School in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1949.

During the 1950s, he was instrumental in establishing country Sunday Schools in Sheridan County under the auspices of the American Sunday School Union. He was ordained as a Conservative Baptist minister in Kaycee, Wyoming and was pastor there and Immanuel Baptist Church in Casper, Wyoming.

Later, he was employed by Sheridan-Johnson County Rural Electrification and Montana Dakota Utilities as a journeyman lineman for over 30 years, retiring in 1985.

Bert was also a self-taught carpenter and remodeled every home he owned, as well as building his A frame home on Ash Creek with the help of family and special friends.

He designed and owned his brand - the OA bar, which stood for Oleo Acres, the imitation spread. His name for this showed his humor in not taking himself to seriously.

Community service included acting as president of the Sheridan County Gem and Mineral Society, president of the Sheridan County Sportsmen's Association, and president of the Local 646 International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Union for many years. He was a strong advocate for safety while serving as president of the I.B.E.W.

Bert will be remembered for his great love of his family, bowling and GOLF.

He is predeceased by one daughter, Maureen Ogle; his parents; five brothers: Alonso, Harry, Ray, Chester, and Frank; and four sisters: Margaret Gleason, Mary Johnson, Helen Johnson, and Rose Stone.

Bert is survived by his wife; five daughters: Judi Lemons, Sierra Vista, AZ; Virginia Morris, Sheridan; Patricia Shaw, Colstrip, MT; Mary Lawson, Sheridan; and Rebecca Harris, Lovell, WY; twelve grandchildren; twelve great-grandchildren; two great, great-grandchildren; one brother-in-law, Francis Stone; cousins; and many nieces and nephews.

Services will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, February 11, 2012 at the First Baptist Church, 3170 Big Horn Avenue, with Pastor John Craft officiating. A reception will follow in the social hall of FBC. Private interment graveside services are scheduled for next summer.

The family gratefully thanks the many friends who visited Bert during his brief stay in the VA hospice. He appreciated those who cared, but would have been the first to insist that he did not deserve any special attention. He is greatly loved by his family.

Memorials may be made to Camp Bethel or to the charity of donor's choice.

Kane Funeral Home has been entrusted with the arrangements.

Online condolences may be written at www.kanefuneral.com.

The Sheridan Press - February 9, 2012.