James F Kegel (Doc Kegel as most locals knew him) passed away peacefully early Saturday morning August 21 at his residence at Hunter’s Pointe in Helena, MT. Prior to moving to his most recent address at Hunter’s Pointe in early 2020, he was a prominent resident and medical doctor for many years in Townsend, MT until his retirement.
(Doc) James Kegel was born in 1932 from La Cross, WI and was the oldest of five children where he was raised with his siblings on their 80-acre family apple orchard farm. As a child he was interested in building model airplanes and fiddling with stuff in the shop. At the age of 14 he was sent to boarding school like many other kids to finish high school education, which seemed to be the norm in that area during that time period.
After high school he went on to Marquette University in Milwaukee, WI and earned a Mechanical Engineering degree. At Marquette University, he signed up for the Army ROTC while working at Allen Bradley Company in Milwaukee. Upon graduation, he entered the Army as a second lieutenant as an Engineer and went to the Army Ranger school and earned a Ranger TAB. It was said he wore out three pairs of boots in nine weeks of training as he recalled. During his time in the army, he served in France pulling up debris from the port of Le Havre. Upon discharge from active duty, he returned to Allen Bradley Company and worked in the test lab. Then he returned to Marquette University in his spare time and obtained another degree in Electrical Engineering and also obtained a Major in Physics at Marquette University while still working at Allen Bradley. Due to his constant search for knowledge, he picked up some science credits and then decided to go to medical school. In May 1967 he received his medical doctor certificate from the Minnesota Board of Examiners and in July 1967 became a certified M.D.
During medical profession career he held many M.D. positions throughout several cities in Minnesota, Texas, Nebraska, and lastly Montana. When in Montana he served as the local M.D in Scobey, Cut Bank, White Sulphur Springs and Rocky Boy and then in 1991 ended up in Townsend, MT, where he served as the local M.D for the Townsend community until his retirement. Doc would often say, when referring to Montana, “This is not the middle of nowhere but you can see it from there”.
After many years pursuing his education and career later in life he met Betty Louise Kretzmann, a retired nurse at the Elks Club. They were married on December 1, 2001 and unfortunately, she passed away about 5 years later.
On a personal note, Doc Kegel was a very caring and generous man to the community. He was known to be straight to the point about his opinions, even if his advice was harsh and hard to accept by the recipient. He only said what he thought was in that persons best interest. When he found out about a family or person in need due to circumstances beyond their control, he would somehow help them either by giving advice, financial help and prayers without any recognition in return. Most people didn’t know that about Doc, but this was his normal behind his rigid and direct personality. He would even jokingly say about himself, “I have a personality of a wire brush.” But behind that highly educated, smart person there was a kind and tender side of him that many people who really knew him will remember.
Service Schedule
Burial with Military Honors
12:00 p.m.
Friday September 3, 2021
Montana State Veterans Cemetery
Heroes Road
Fort Harrison, Montana 59636
Service Schedule
Burial with Military Honors
12:00 p.m.
Friday September 3, 2021
Montana State Veterans Cemetery
Heroes Road
Fort Harrison, Montana 59636
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