obituary
DR YSDALE M CLE AN W IL LETT
Gone Fishing Philip Earl Hoberecht passed away on December 17, 2010, surrounded by his family and his faithful pet Dirk. Phil was born October 12, 1927 in Lakewood, Ohio to Leslie and Jessie Hoberecht. He was raised in Lakewood, where he graduated from Lakewood High School. Before Phil was eight years old, his uncle John put a fishing pole in his hands. It was his favorite pastime ever since. Rocky River was in his backyard, and he spent all his free time fishing and enjoying the wildlife—he even raised a baby raccoon. He told many wonderful stories about “Tuffy” the raccoon over the years. Phil attended Syracuse University and then the University of Missouri, majoring in Agriculture with a minor in Fisheries. Upon graduation, he attended Officer Candidate School then entered the Air Force as a 1st Lieutenant. Two weeks after his commissioning, on September 29, 1951, he married Barbara Anne Tomey of Lakewood, Ohio. They then began their odyssey in the military. Phil and Barbara were first stationed at Lowry A.F. Base in Denver Colorado, allowing them to continue to spend every free moment exploring and fishing. Lt. Hoberecht spent a short time at Yorktown, Virginia, training at the Indian School of Mines learning the fine art of underwater explosive defusing. Phil then headed off to Korea with a permanent station at Misawa, Japan as an Explosion Ordinance Officer, leaving his pregnant wife behind in Cleveland, Ohio. After the birth of their first child on April 16, 1953, Barbara and their wee daughter Christy joined Phil in Japan. Two years later, they returned to Wright Paterson A.F.B. in Dayton, Ohio. On June 2, 1955 their second child, a son, Kim, joined them. Next stop, Hill A.F.B. in Ogden, Utah, where another son, David, was born on May 3, 1957. Phil and the family moved to Tachikawa, Japan in the summer of the year David was born. Three years later they returned to the U.S. where Phil taught ROTC at University of Wisconsin at Superior. While there, Phil and Barbara’s youngest child, Todd, was born on December 19, 1961. Four years later, Phil was sent on a remote assignment for a year in Turkey, leaving the family behind in Wisconsin. A year later, Barbara and the four children joined Phil in Germany, where they lived for a year and a half
before moving to Aviano A.F.B., Italy for another two and a half years. Returning to the U.S., Phil retired from the Air Force and settled the family in Boulder, Colorado. Still wanting to fish new streams, the family headed to Snowmass, Colorado, and then found their way further north to the rivers of Montana. In Montana, Phil taught AARP drivers’ ed classes for senior citizens for many years, and also helped with income taxes at the Senior Center. As a member of American Legion Post at Big Sky, he helped put up the white crosses on Highway 191. Yearly, he and the vets added new paint and flags to the old crosses for Memorial Day. Phil was a member of Big Sky Christian Fellowship and Peregrinatio Church in Bozeman, where his son Todd was Pastor. He is survived by his beloved wife Barbara, daughter Christy (John) Gervers of Santa Fe, New Mexico; son Kim (Suzy) Hoberecht of Bozeman, David (Laura) Hoberecht of Seattle, Washington; and son Todd (former wife Kathleen) Hoberecht of Bozeman. Also, eight grandchildren: Michelle (Boston, MA); Erin (Albuquerque, NM); Arman and Anzhela (Bozeman); Jackson and Leif (Seattle, WA); Corinne (Ryan) Todd and Adam (Bozeman). He is also survived by his only brother Leslie Wilson (Lois) Hoberecht, and two nephews, Mark and Bart Hoberecht. He was preceded in death by his mother Jessie Hoberecht and father Leslie Hoberecht, two aunts and two uncles.
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Phil loved Montana and living on the great fishing river of the Gallatin for 31 years. He would walk out the back door and get the night’s dinner; a fisherman’s dream come true. The last stop on his long journey of life ended here in “God’s Country,” with a humble little house in the Gallatin Canyon. According to Phil’s wishes he has been cremated and his ashes will be scattered in the streams surrounding his home for his last journey as a fisherman with his beloved friends—his fish.
I N T H E M O U N TA I N M A L L
B I G S K Y, M O N T A N A
406-995-3210
Phil’s memorial was held Wednesday, December 29 at 1 p.m. at the Soldiers Chapel in Big Sky, Montana.
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