Donald Leroy Hirst

Donald LeRoy Hirst, 85, of Billings, passed away peacefully in his home on April 4, 2015. He was born in Spokane, Wash., on Nov. 18, 1929, to Donald C. and Evelyn C. (Johnson) Hirst. He graduated from Sandpoint, Idaho high school in 1947. Don entered the U.S. Army (Sig Corps) in 1951, where he met his beloved wife, Shirley Alene Jury, while stationed at Fort Monmouth in New Jersey. They were wed in Stamford, Conn., on Feb. 16, 1952. He was discharged, with the rank of corporal, on Oct. 12, 1956. They moved to Moscow, Idaho, where Don attended the University of Idaho. He went on to graduate from the University of Idaho with a bachelor's in agriculture in 1958. While in Moscow, Don and Shirley became a family of four, with the births of Margaret "Peggy" and Elizabeth "Liz." Don and his family moved to Billings in 1960, where the girls were raised and Don's career was spent as a livestock market reported for the USDA. Don and Shirley spent 34 years in the Billings area before retiring to the Bitterroot Valley. Don moved back to Billings in 2012. He enjoyed camping, fishing, hunting and leather tooling. He had a love of all nature's creatures, wild and domestic. His two favorite creatures as a boy growing up at the "homeplace" outside Cocolalla, Idaho, were his horse, Gypsy, and his bobcat, Bobby. "Sonny," as his mom called him, rode Gypsy out bareback to bring the cows in at night. One such evening, Gypsy and the cows came home alone. About the time Mom was getting very worried, Sonny stumbled in. Something had spooked Gypsy out in the woods, tossing Sonny right off. On another occasion, after a school dance, Don decided to take a shortcut through the woods. It was very dark when, all of a sudden, Bobby jumped out of nowhere onto his shoulders. Don always ended this story: "I think he was hoping for some food, but instead, he got a smackin'." His cocker spaniel, Ginger, was his latest beloved four-legged companion. They were an inseparable pair. Don is preceded in death by his parents; his wife; nephew Donald Hirst; and his grandson, Wesley Michael Peterson; and survived by daughters Margaret (Warren) Peterson of Billings, Elizabeth Hirst of Helena; brother Richard J. (Ruth) Hirst of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho; two granddaughters, Jennifer Peterson (Tyson) Bradish of Billings and Erica Erlandson of Superior, Wis.; two great-grandsons, Wesley and Toby; two nephews, Gary and Randy; and a niece, Lisa. Cremation has taken place. Memorial services will be 10:30 am Monday at Michelotti-Sawyers Mortuary. Interment will be with Shirley in Yellowstone National Veteran's Cemetery in Laurel. Memorials may be made to any veteran's nonprofit or the Humane Society.