Merril Albert Hoebelheinrich
CODY — Merril Albert Hoebelheinrich, 80, was born Aug. 24, 1941, to Bernadine Weibel Hoebelheinrich and Urban Hoebelheinrich in Menominee. He was the proud older brother to nine siblings.
He died Dec. 29, 2021.
A celebration of Merril’s life will occur in the spring under blue Montana skies. Merril attended high school in Nebraska
Merril attended high school in Nebraska and graduated from Wynot, before joining the U.S. Navy, where he was stationed at Pearl Harbor. After leaving the service, he met and fell in love with Melba Wilson, who he married Aug. 24, 1963. The couple made their home in Winner, S.D.; Sheridan, Wyo.; Buffalo, Wyo.; and Forsyth, Mont. They had three daughters, Michelle Renee, Nita Marie, and Tina Annette. The couple later divorced, but remained friends and parents to their children.
Merril became employed at the Col strip mine as a heavy equipment operator and retired after 34 years of service. His favorite equipment was the dragline, but he was really a master at anything with tracks and a blade.
While living in Forsyth in the 1980s, he met Cindy Simpson, who he married, later having a son, Dustin Merril. The family lived and operated a café in Rosebud, until moving closer to Forsyth and schools as Dustin got older. Merril and Cindy enjoyed raising dogs, creating ceramics, and raising horses. Dusty and Merril found a new hobby in cowboy shooting competitions, but maintained their love of hunting and fishing. He loved sharing stories of hunting, fishing and riding. He enjoyed fishing with his brothers-in-law, Jerry and Chuck; son-in-law, Chad; grandsons, Jake and Chase; and sister, Karen.
One of his fondest memories was an elk hunt with his stepson, Justin Simpson, just prior to Justin’s death in 1992. Cindy and Merril later divorced.
Throughout his life, Merril enjoyed speed and fast corners, and channeled that love into stock cars and motorcycles. He found his true love in the Honda Goldwing. He rode thousands of miles and made many friends on his Goldwing adventures.
Merril is preceded in death by his parents, Bernadine and Urban; his brothers, Urban Jr. and Virgil; his sister, Judy; his children, Nita Marie and Dustin Merril, and numerous extended family members.
Merril is survived by brothers, Gaylon (Cheri) and Myron (Carole); sisters, Bonnie (Chuck) King, Marilyn (Dave) Fiedler, Kathy (Loren) Van Der Vliet and Karen (Jerry) Kolda; his daughter, Michelle (Chad) Lemmon, and their children, Alex (Chris) Lindahl, Tim (Sara) Knudson, and Chace Lemmon; his daughter Nita’s family, Randy Myrup, Cody LaFleur, Kelsey (Anna) Tetschner, and Kate Stewart; and his daughter, Tina and her children, Hannah and Jacob Cubbage, greatgrandchildren, nieces and nephews.