The viewing for Sheriff Chuck Maxwell will be Tuesday evening from 5 to 9 p.m. at Smith's Funeral Chapel on South 27th Street. The funeral will be held at the Metra on Wednesday, July 1 at 2 p.m.

Chuck Maxwell

Yellowstone County Sheriff Chuck Maxwell, held in the loving arms of family, passed away at home on June 26, 2009 of cancer.

Charles W. Maxwell, Jr., known as "Chuck" to those in Montana, was born to Charles W. "Chick" and Margaret Wiberg Maxwell on March 27, 1942, in Chambersburg, Pa. He was joined by twin sisters, Patricia and Pamela, four years later; and they grew up in Concord in the beautiful Path Valley of Pennsylvania. Chuck was a good student and a great athlete, excelling in basketball, despite his 5'8" height, baseball and soccer. After graduation from high school, he attended the Pennsylvania State Teachers' College in Clarion, Pa. but, in 1964, with the Vietnam War escalating, he joined the US Air Force, which stationed him at the radar base in Miles City. He served in the military police.

While in Miles City, he met and married Gloria Stewart. They were blessed with three beautiful daughters, Kim, Kristy and Kyra. They have grown into extraordinary women giving Chuck six wonderful grandchildren.

Once discharged from the service, Chuck went to work for the Custer County Sheriff's Office in Miles City under Sheriff Bill Damm. His dedication to his career assisted him in achieving the rank of Undersheriff. During that time, he attended and graduated from the United States FBI Academy in Quantico, Va.

In 1977 he moved to Billings, where he went to work for Sheriff Dean Betzer in the Yellowstone County Sheriff's Of-fice. After nine months in the patrol division, he was promoted to detective; the true love of his law enforcement life. His greatest law enforcement satisfaction came from untangling murders and other hard-to-solve crimes, from ob-taining confessions from criminals and convincing would-be troublemakers, by the sheer power of his own personal-ity, to proceed on a different path.

He became the Chief of Detectives, rising in the ranks from Sergeant to Lieutenant, and serving there under Sheriffs Dick Shaffer and Mike Schafer until 1986 when he was appointed Sheriff Mike Schafer's Undersheriff. He served as Undersheriff for six years until 1992 when Mike Shafer died in office. At Sheriff Schafer's request, Chuck was ap-pointed the Democratic Sheriff by the Republican Yellowstone County Commission. He was elected by landslide ma-jorities of the citizens of Yellowstone County, who he was so very proud to serve, in 1994, 1998, 2002 and 2006.

He was a tremendously distinguished Sheriff, a real source of pride for law enforcement in Montana and for the citi-zens of Yellowstone County. He was made the United States' Law Enforcement Officer of the Year by the United States Marshal's Service in a ceremony in Washington, D.C. in 1999. He served on the National Association of Counties. He headed the Montana Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association for several terms. His wonderful associations with those across the private sector, as well as government at the local, county, state and national levels, made so many advance-ments possible in Yellowstone County, bringing the Sheriff's Office into the 21st Century as a state-of-the-art law enforcement agency, with access to the best equipment and technological advancements. Under his leadership, the Sheriff's Office moved into its own building across the street from the Yellowstone County Courthouse. He built a defensive driving training center and a firearms training range that are used as resources by law enforcement agencies throughout the West and Midwest. He took particular pride in forging an effort to make sure that officers from all local agencies could communicate on their radios, despite their different communication systems, so that officers close to each other could be of assistance to each other when needed. He oversaw the expansion of the Yellowstone County Detention Facility but also began innovative programs in the jail to facilitate better programming to make successful lives after detention more attainable and also to make earlier release from the facility possible, while enhancing public safety at the same time. He served on the Board for the Rimrock Foundation and the Mental Health Center, the Council for the Prevention of Elder Abuse and Parents, Let's Unite for Kids. He belonged to the Optimists Club. His spiritual well being came from being a member of St. Luke's Episcopal Church.

On January 6th, 2007, Chuck and Sharon shared their hopes and promises for the future, together with their closest friends and family in a wedding ceremony at St. Luke's. For too short a time, Sharon shared her life with Chuck and gave him two wonderful additions to his family, a son Jeff and a daughter Kristie. They added to Chuck and Sharon's joy by blessing them with eight gorgeous grandchildren. His love knew no bounds and his children and grandchildren knew where shelter would be found with open arms.

Chuck's career speaks for itself, but his heart and soul belong to his lovely wife Sharon. They opened their home and created the perfect family with children Kim and Mike Muir, grandchildren Bohdi and Brady, Kristy and Randy Noble, grandchildren Damian (DJ) and Charlee, Kyra and Vic Stark, grandchildren Kendall and Sienna, Kristie and Chris Bar-one, grandchildren Nicholas, Katherine, Jacob and Jeff and Michelle Flinn, grandchildren Jeff, Jr., Michael, Ryan, Mat-thew and Madison.

Chuck is survived by his sisters, Pat McGee and her husband Ronnie of Concord, Pa., and Pam Hawbaker of Carlisle, Pa. and three nieces, Leisa, Stacey and Heather. He is survived by his godchildren, Brendan, Shannon and Quinlan O'Connor. He is survived by his mother, Margaret Maxwell, of Concord, Pa., and his uncle, John Wiberg, of Altoona, Pa. He was predeceased by his father, Charles W. Maxwell, Sr. in May of 1988.

Sheriff Chuck Maxwell was highly respected throughout the state of Montana. His peers awarded him with the Montana Sheriff's & Peace Officer's Association Distinguished Career Award on June 18, 2009. Chuck, you were our mentor, the standard of law enforcement that we strive to achieve but most of all, you were our friend and confidante. Dad, we are so proud to call you our Dad. As you have spent your life keeping us safe, we will forever keep you safe in our hearts.

The viewing will be Tuesday evening from 5 to 9 p.m. at Smith's Funeral Chapel on South 27th Street. The funeral will be held at the Metra on Wednesday, July 1 at 2 p.m

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