Milt E. Hittle

Milt E. Hittle, 73, of Rudyard, Mont. passed away in his home from his battle with cancer on March 29, 2017. Born to Orval and Ruth Hittle on July 18,1943 in Collbran, Colorado. Milt’s family settled in Idaho in 1946 after living in Washington and Oregon. Milt went to school locally in Bonners Ferry and married Toni Hilton in 1966 where they raised their three children.

Milt enjoyed telling stories about growing up with his siblings Ray, Helen, and Evelyn and Aunt Wilma Wallace and Uncle Bill Branson. There were also many crazy stories of adventures with good friends. Some of his favorite memories were enjoying family vacations, elk packing trips, teaching his boys, Todd and Spencer to hunt, fish, and fix up their old trucks. He loved sharing his passion for horses and riding with his daughter, Tifani. In his younger years, Milt was a member of the Kootenai Valley Rifle and Pistol Club where he took his children to shoot regularly.

He was such a talented shooter that he was awarded Highest Marksman while in the Army Basic Training program. Milt went on to serve in the Army National Guard. He also enjoyed boxing in his earlier years and fought his way to be named Golden Glove Champion. He taught his boys his love of this sport and loved watching them compete. Woodworking, welding, mechanics and flying were just a few of his many talents. Whatever he put his mind to he would accomplish, and usually pretty well.

Milt was a very hard working man, he never sat still and in his adult life continued to have many adventures from one end of the country to the other. One of his biggest accomplishments was helping his longtime friend Violet Wyman achieve her dream of creating the Wyman Wildlife Refuge. He had a wide variety of talents/work including logging, tree research, building roads and most exciting spending a few years in Louisiana cleaning up after Hurricane Katrina.

Milt spent the last 17 years of his life with his wife, Laraine who he met and married in Darby MT sharing their love of adventure together. They eventually settled down in Rudyard, Montana where Milt helped his friend and neighbor, Merlin, on his farm. He was always willing to lend a hand and wanted to help anyone he could. He led such an impactful life and will be missed by so many.

Preceded in death by his parents, Ruth and Orval Hittle.

Survived by his wife, Laraine, brother, Ray Hittle, sisters Evelyn (Ron) Smith, and Helen Pederson. Children, Todd (Pamela) Hittle, Spencer (Barb) Hittle, Tifani (Darren) Osborn, 3 step-children. 9 grandchildren, 4 step-grandchildren and 7 great-grandchildren.