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CHINOOK - Hans Henry Hofeldt,
87, of Chinook, a rancher, died of natural causes Sunday at a Chinook nursing
home.
His funeral is 11 a.m. Saturday at
the Chinook High School auditorium, with burial in Kuper
Memorial Cemetery. A luncheon will follow at the Chinook Senior Center.
Edwards Funeral Home is handling
arrangements.
Hans Henry Hofeldt
was born on July 8, 1921, to Henry and Alvina
(Struve) Hofeldt. He was raised on the family ranch
in the Bear Paw Mountains south of Lloyd, along with four brothers and two
sisters. Hans attended the country school known as Maddux School, Lloyd
School and Chinook High School until 1942. After high school, Hans continued
to work on the ranch north of Lloyd.
Hans married Mary Sattleen on Feb. 19, 1944. To this union four children
were born, Kenneth Lee, Donald George, Mary Laraine,
and Connie Lynn. They lived at the Runyan place
with Hans' mother. In the spring of 1944, they went to the Corrigan place and
herded sheep for two months, and then moved to the old Crumley
place. In 1945, the ranches were split between the children. Hans leased the
ranch they lived on for three years and, in 1948, he bought it from the
estate. He continued to live there until his stroke in the fall of 2006.
Hans and Mary raised sheep and
Hereford cattle. Although their ranching experience began with sheep in 1944,
Hans got rid of the sheep and went to Hereford cattle in the late '50s or
early '60s.
In the '80s, they changed from
Hereford to Angus. He always saved his replacement heifers, that way he never
had to buy any cattle. Hans was a very wise cattleman, sheep man and farmer.
His animals always came first. If there was a storm, everything was in the family's
place and out of the weather. Hans knew his cattle as well as a mother knows her children. He spent a lot of time with them,
knowing each and every one individually.
In the fall of 1972, Hans purchased
the Loney place and farmed wheat, barley and oats.
He truly enjoyed the ranch life and believed in working extremely hard, and
keeping the ranch neat and tidy. Hans could do anything, from ranching and
farming to carpentry, electrical work, welding and being a mechanic. He was a
very talented and smart man.
Hans loved his grandchildren and enjoyed spoiling them all. He always would
take the time out of his busy day to play with them or just take them for a
ride through the cattle.
Hans served for many years on the school board for the Lloyd School, was an
Eagles member, was a member of the Hereford Association, and enjoyed helping
his kids and grandkids with 4-H projects. He thoroughly enjoyed going to bull
sales around the state, playing cards, dancing at all the Lloyd and Cleveland
dances and, especially in his later years, hunting antelope with his friends
from Virginia.
Hans always had a passion for
traveling and flying, but never did get much of an opportunity to do so. He
did get the chance to fly to Alaska with a friend and experience the ranching
life up there. It was quite an occurrence, and he had a lot of fun learning
the different ways of ranching.
Hans leaves behind his wife of 64
years, Mary; two daughters, Mary (Sam) Carter and Connie (Mike) Copenhaver, both of Chinook; six grandchildren, Bob
(Rosanne) Kleinjan of Portland, Ore., Chad Jamieson
of California, Jesse Jamieson of California, Carrie Jamieson of Chinook, Tina
(Russell) Alisch of Chinook and Katelyn Copenhaver of Chinook; and four great-grandsons, Chase,
Tory, Gavin and Ayden. Hans also is survived by many wonderful nieces and
nephews.
Hans was preceded in death by his sons, Kenneth and Donald; four infant
siblings; a 7-year-old sister, Margaretha; his
parents; brothers Roy, Ben, Lawrence and Paul Hofeldt;
and sisters Christine Miller and Hilda Drugge.
Memorials are suggested to Sweet
Memorial Nursing Home or the donor's choice.
Condolences may be posted online at
www.gftribune.com/obituaries.
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