John Giles Burgess, 73, of Belt, passed away on Thursday, February 19, 2015 at his residence from natural causes. A memorial service in honor of his life will be held on Thursday, February 26 at 11 a.m. at the Belt Community Church. John (Jack) was born on August 2, 1941 in Missoula, MT to parents John A. Burgess and Lillian Gifferd Giles. They moved To Hamilton, MT., where he attended high school. In 1964 he joined the United States Marine Corps, where he earned a Navy Accommodation, Republic of Vietnam, and Vietnam service medals, while proudly serving his country in Vietnam. After his tour in Vietnam, Jack was stationed at 29 Palms, CA., where he met and fell in love with Terry A. Katen. In March 1967, Jack was honorably discharged from the Marine Corps and returned to Belt, MT. Terry followed mid June and they were married July 1 1967. June 9, 1968, she gave birth to their first child, Donna Jeanne, he went rafting... Oct 8, 1969 she gave birth to their second child, Connie Sue; he waited all week for Connie to be old enough and Terry to recover before taking them to hunting in their Jeep. Jack spent the majority of his working days operating heavy equipment or driving truck throughout Montana and spent his winters at Malmstrom AFB, in Great Falls removing snow from and around aircraft and runways. Jack put "Jack" in "Jack of all trades", mostly working as an electrician, furnace repairman, and fire truck designer/engineer/fabricator for the Belt Rural Fire District, which he helped establish and was a loyal member. He also served on the Belt City Council. When he wasn't serving the Belt community, he enjoyed spending time with family, preferably in the mountains camping, hunting, riding motorcycles, snowmobiles, and ATVs. After his retirement, he most enjoyed maintaining his yard and garden, though it's been said that was just an excuse to ride his garden tractor around in circles. Jack is survived by his wife Terry; daughters, Donna and Connie; sons, John and Guy; brother, and 11 grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents.

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