Lynn Kent Berkebile
Lynn Berkebile Obituary
On April 6, 2024, Lynn Berkebile, left this world to quietly join his beloved wife Bernadette who passed just 12 days earlier; they were 29 year residents of Great Falls, Montana.
Lynn was born in Johnstown, Pennsylvania on January 31, 1936 to Cecil and Louise Berkebile. The family moved to Detroit Michigan where he spent most of his early years. Like so many young men, Lynn left high school early to join the US Navy just after the Korean War. He was a proud “Plank Owner” on the USS Kawishiwi an oil tender in the Pacific. Lynn served a full hitch in the Navy visiting many ports of call in Japan, the Philippines, and Okinawa. After serving in the Navy, Lynn returned to Detroit and on a lark with his friends managed to be talked into joining the US Air Force. Lynn spent the next 20 years in the USAF travelling the world in search of adventure. He spent time in Japan and Egypt. While on TDY to the Belgian Congo he and his fellow airmen narrowly survived an ambush by rebels. His USAF journey led him to France where he met his wife and life partner Bernadette Frossard at Evreux USAF Base where she worked as a telephone operator. They continued to live the Air Force life traveling between France, Japan, England, and various USAF Bases across the US.
Before retiring to Montana, Lynn worked at the National Transportation Safety Board in Washington DC, as well as US Airways and Northwest Airlines. Upon retirement he and Bernadette enjoyed visiting the national parks in their camper. But his most important duty was chauffeuring Bernadette and transporting the many cookies, muffins, and pies she baked for family, friends, colleagues, and strangers. Lynn and Bernadette were devoted to one another. They were inseparable and are together again.
Lynn is survived by his brother Gary, his son Daniel and his wife Dominique Berkebile of Strasbourg France, his son Patrick and his wife Laynita of Baltimore Maryland, as well as numerous grand-children and great-grandchildren in France and the United States.
Lynn was predeceased by his youngest son Alan and by his brother Roland and sisters Zona, Winona, Janice, and Anita.
Services will be held at the Croxford Funeral Home on April 20, 2024 at 11:00AM in combination with his wife Bernadette. Lynn shared a love of gardening with Bernadette and their favorite flowers were Blackeyed Susans and Red Roses, However, because of Bernadette’s long-term struggles with Parkinson’s Disease, the family asks donations be made in Lynn and Bernadette’s names to the Parkinson Foundation (https://www.parkinson.org/) in lieu of flowers.
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