Herbert L. Meschke
March 18, 1928- May 19, 2017
Herbert L. Meschke, 89,
passed away on Friday,
May 19, 2017 at his home
near Minot, ND.
Herbert was born March
18, 1928, in the Badlands
north of Medora, ND to
cattleman and cowboy
poet Gus Meschke and his
wife Dorothy McLeod. He
was raised on the ranch,
went to a one-room coun-
try school, and attended
high school in Belfield,
ND. Herbert would go on
to attend Jamestown State
College, where he met and
married, Shirley Ruth
McNeil of Hettinger, ND.
Herbert attended law
school at the University of
Michigan in Ann Arbor,
and returned to ND. Fol-
lowing a year of clerking
for Federal District Judge
Charles Vogel in Fargo, he
joined the law firm of
Ilvedson, Pringle, and
Herigstad in Minot. Her-
bert was a member of the
Ward County, State, and
American Bar Assns, and
admitted to practice be-
fore the 8th Circuit Court
of Appeals. Additionally,
Herbert was admitted and
qualified as attorney and
counselor of the Supreme
Court of the United
States, April 19, 1962.
Herb and Shirley had
four children who they
raised in Minot. The
Meschke family were
members of Vincent Un-
ited Methodist Church,
where he served for
several committees and
the foundation Board.
Herb served in the 1965
legislative session in the
ND house, and in 67-68 as
state senator and senate
minority leader for the
Democratic-NPL. In a leg-
islative capacity, he
helped in the congression-al push to support and
open the lignite coal
mines and move the
State-Fair permanently to
the Northwestern ND fair-
grounds in Minot. He was
a principal organizer and
board member of the
Minot Vocational Work-
shop, and board-chairman
of the Minot Symphony
Endowment. In 1985, Her-
bert accepted an appoint-
ment to the ND Supreme
Court until his retirement
in 1999. He continued
working as special coun-
sel and did historical writ-
ing for the ND Supreme
Court, family homestead
pioneers and cowboys.
Surviving family in-
cludes: Loving wife of 66
years, Shirley Ruth; and
children, Marie, Jean,
Michael, and Jill; Grand-
children Aurora, Mason,
Finan, Taylor, Justine,
and Conan; and sister
Helen Kary.
Herbert was preceded
in death by his parents
Gus and Dorothy, and his
brothers, Don and Ralph.
Celebration of Life ser-
vice: Wednesday, May 24,
2017 at 1:30 p.m. in Vin-
cent United Methodist
Church, Minot.
Visitation: At the re-
quest of family, there will
not be a reviewal, howev-
er friends may sign a
memorial register book on
Tuesday, May 23rd from
3:00-6:00 p.m. in Thomas
family Funeral Home,
Minot.
Memorials are pre-
ferred to the Minot Sym-
phony Association or the
State Historical Society of
ND Foundation.
Those wanting to sign
the online memorial regis-
ter or share memories and
condolences are invited to
use the expressions of
sympathy section at
(www.thomasfamily
funeralhome.com)