Jerry M. Hybner

Jerry Markus Hybner was born April 26, 1928, in Havre to Frank & Antonia “Margaret” Hybner.  He was raised on the family farm 15.5 miles north of Rudyard.  With his siblings, Ed and Martha, he rode horseback to the nearby Oreana country school.  After the 8th grade, he moved on to Rudyard High School, where he boarded during the school year at Andrew & Margaret Wendland’s.  After graduating in 1946, he went to the Bismarck (ND) Vo-Tech to learn auto mechanics and welding.  While there he was a bellhop at a local hotel.  The school burned over Christmas break, so his one quarter of “college days” ended and he returned to the farm.  On Sept. 20, 1952, he married Mary Lois Stanberry, a local gal from north of Inverness, who was teaching in Gildford.  This union lasted over 68 years!

His Catholic faith was very important to him and he very rarely missed driving 22 miles one-way to church every Sunday in Hingham or Inverness.  He laughingly told of the time in his younger days when he was trapping for extra money.  He had caught a skunk and unfortunately, it woke up when he tried to remove the trap.  His parents made him attend the Goldstone Catholic church the next day and he said he had a pe-ew all to himself!

Jerry was a farmer/rancher through and through and he was happiest when on the farm.  When we came back from family vacations, he would carry one suitcase into the house and tell his kids “help your Mom unload the car” and then speed off in the pickup to check the crops and cattle.  He was a good steward of the land, implementing many soil conservation and wildlife enhancement practices.  The kids thought he was just trying to keep them busy planting and hoeing trees, but he also increased the soil health and improved the habitat for the cows and wildlife.  He was civic minded and a member of the Oreana School Board, the Rudyard School Board, Our Lady of Ransom Parish Finance Council, Knights of Columbus, and the Farmers Merchants Bank Board of Directors.  He was a devoted husband and family man, who attended almost every school event in Rudyard that his kids participated in and set many fine examples of how to be successful in all phases of life.

He loved visiting and joking with his many friends, especially the Jurenka’s, Chvilicek’s, Kops’, Langel’s, Wendland’s, Wolery’s, and special neighbors, the Morris & Esther Smith family.  He also enjoyed playing whist and pinochle.  Many Saturday nights in the 1950s & 1960s were spent either at home or a friend’s house playing “one more hand” till the wee hours in the morning, while the kids slept where they dropped.

Jerry retired not too willingly in 1988 and stayed on the farm, making sure Dan & Terry were farming right.  At that time, he became the #1 threat to the north country gopher population and kept meticulous records on how many he shot every summer.  During their retirement years, Jerry and Mary Lois thoroughly enjoyed traveling adventures to many states, Canada, and the Bahamas with Lloyd and Fern Wolery.  He relished the memorable trips to his father’s birthplace in Partutivice, Czechoslovakia, and re-established ties with long lost Hybner relatives.

Because of failing health, Jerry and Mary Lois moved into Rudyard the fall of 2016 and then moved to Wheat Country Estates in Chester in early 2017.  Both of them received exceptional care and attention from the outstanding staff there during their 3+ year stay.  It took 2 broken hips, one in February of 2020 and another on January 14th, to finally make him call it quits at 92 2/3 years of age.  On Thursday morning, Jan. 21, 2021, he passed away peacefully with family at his side.  He is now at the big John Deere farm in the sky where no weeds, bumper crops, fat calves, and good grain prices are guaranteed.  Farm on, Jolly Green Giant! (Jerry’s CB handle)

Survivors include his wife, Mary Lois; children, Dan (Lynn) of Rudyard, Roger of Joliet, Terry (Mary) of Rudyard, Joan “Maria” Forrest of Denver, CO, and Amy (Tim) Huber of Lake Nebagamon, WI; sister and brother-in-law, Martha and Virgil Jurenka; sister-in-law, Peggy Stanberry; and son-in-law Tony Schweitzer.  He had 14 beloved grandchildren, Mark (Mary), David, Colleen, & Brian Hybner; Amber Schweitzer; Jacob, Paul (Alissa), Anna, & Scott McClendon; Jack, Abby, & Isabelle Huber; and Daniel (Adria) & Jasmine Mikulecky and 3 great-grandchildren, Sophia, Joseph, & Eloisa Mikulecky.  He is survived by nephews/nieces, Tom (Marilyn) Jurenka, Ted (Lynn) Jurenka, Russ (Mary) Jurenka, Doug (April) Jurenka, Frank (Julie) Jurenka, Carol (Tim) Tempel, Paul (Maura) Jurenka, Marvin (Char) Stanberry, Steve (Patty) Stanberry, Farron Stanberry, Peggy Sue Stanberry, Carolyn Setala, Sherri Rutherford, Renie (Dale) Ludwig and Char (Mark) Ramthun.  Family who has previously passed on were his parents; older brothers, Georgie (2 years) and Ed; daughters, Linda Schweitzer and Theresa Ann (at birth); parents-in-law, Roy & Minnie (Geesey) Stanberry; and brothers-in-law, Elwin (Eva,) Raymond, and Melvin Stanberry.

Memorials are suggested to the Our Lady of Ransom Catholic Church or to the charity of one’s choice.  Please send all condolences to Dan Hybner, Box 98, Rudyard, MT, 59540.  Due to family members being scattered across the USA and COVID concerns, there will be no service at this time.  Plans are for a Celebration of Life later this summer.