Edward Carroll Kimball

Edward Carroll Kimball, 92, of Miles City died Oct 16 in Miles City.  Ed was born in Hysham to Carroll and Frances Isaac-Kimball and raised in Myers, MT.  He was earning his bachelor’s degree in agronomy at Montana State University in Bozeman when WWII started.  He left MSU after qualifying for an ROTC scholarship at Harvard where he earned his MBA.  After leaving Harvard he attended officer training school and entered the Army as an officer.  As part of his service he participated in the amphibious landing that liberated the Philippines in 1944.  During the war he also managed the Miyako Hotel in Okinawa.  As a result of his college thesis on hydroponic farming, he built a self-sustaining garden at the hotel that fed the generals who were stationed there (including General Eisenhower before he was president).

After the war he moved back to Hysham where he “met the love of his life”.  In 1947 he married Mary Louise VanHemelryck and this year they celebrated their 66th wedding anniversary.  Ed and Mary Lou started their family in Hysham where he farmed sugar beets.  In 1963 they moved to Miles City where Eddie worked at the FHA, 1st Security Bank and Eastern Brokerage Service.  Eventually, Ed & Mary Lou purchased the Town Market in Hysham and commuted between the two towns. He started Kimball Realty as a family business and he was an integral part of the commercial development of Miles City along Haynes Avenue.

Ed spent most of his life in banking and real estate, but his true love was farming.  He loved to be out on the tractor or walking around the fields.  Music also played a big part of his life and he played the saxophone in his Army Band.

Ed was preceded in death by his wife, Mary Lou who died four weeks earlier.  His survivors include his seven children, John (Bobbin) of Stevensville; Rich of Anchorage, AK; Jerry (Carolyn) of Miles City; Jim (Kristy) of Miles City; Colette (David) Harris of Miles City; Dale of Miles City; Scott (Angeline) of Highlands Ranch, CO.  Ed had 19 grandchildren and 23 great grandchildren.

Visitation will be held on Friday, October 25, 2013 with the family receiving friends from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. at Stevenson & Sons Funeral Home in Miles City. A vigil service will follow at 6:00 p.m. Funeral services will be held on Saturday, October 26, 2013 at 11:00 a.m. at the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Miles City.  Interment will follow in the Calvary Cemetery with full military honors. A reception will follow at the Town & Country Club.  Condolences may be made to the family by visiting: www.stevensonandsons.com.

 In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the American Legion, PO Box 56, Hysham, MT 59038. Print this post