Benjamin F. Hurlbut, 84

Benjamin F. 'Ben' Hurlbut, 84 years young, of Billings, passed away Nov. 5, 2006, in Missoula, surrounded by family, after a brief and courageous battle with cancer. Ben was born to Josephine and Oscar Hurlbut on June 3, 1922, in Walsenburg, Colo. He graduated from Custer County High School in Miles City in 1940.

Ben served with the 220th field artillery battalion of the 44th infantry division during World War II in active duty in the European theater. After the war, Ben attended Montana State College in Bozeman, graduating with a degree in civil engineering in 1949. He then moved to Spokane, married Betty Meyer with whom he had six children, and worked for various firms before coming to Billings in 1955.

Ben and Betty divorced in 1965, and he married Rosalie Lackman in 1966 with whom he had two daughters.

Ben's engineering career spanned nearly six decades and involved many milestones. One young engineer, upon meeting Ben for the first time, referred to him as the 'godfather of engineering in Montana.'

He founded HKM, Inc. in 1955. Hurlbut was the structural engineer for private and public buildings throughout Montana, including Billings West High School, Bozeman Senior High School, C.M. Russell High School in Great Falls and schools in Livingston, Glendive, Miles City, Broadus, Red Lodge, Polson and Missoula. He was the structural engineer for Brick Breeden Fieldhouse at Montana State University-Bozeman. At the time of its construction in 1956, the fieldhouse was the largest clear-span, timber-frame dome in the world.

His career also included consulting on a grain elevator building in Tokyo, a World War II memorial in Guam, and laminated wood turning vanes for a NASA wind tunnel. Ben was an inaugural inductee into the Montana Professional Engineers Hall of Fame in 2002. He possessed a common sense approach to construction methods that many contractors, architects, and colleagues appreciated.

Ben was an active member of his profession and community. He was a national director and co-founder of the Montana chapter of the American Council of Engineering Companies. He served on the Technical Review board for the American Institute of Timber Construction. He was a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, the Elks Club, Optimists, Knights of Columbus, initial member of the Montana Tramway Council and the Billings Boat Club.

Ben enjoyed working with wood, fishing, bowling, camping, boating and took up golf at the age of 79. Other hobbies included playing cards, especially pinochle and 31, spending time with his family, tinkering in the garage, and visiting friends.

'Dad, we will remember the good times, the many camping trips, fatherly advice, doctoring of cuts and scrapes, stern lectures, car wrecks, pulling boats of the sand bar, finding you stuck in the sand in Nevada, and the laughter we shared. There are so many more memories and achievements that we want to remember. We love you, Dad!'

Ben was preceded in death by his wife, Rosalie; daughter, Rebecca Hurlbut; brother, Lu Hurlbut; grandson, Gabriel Solbrack; and brother-in-law, Willard Lackman.

He is survived by his brother, John and Dorothy of Stanford; four sons, Joseph and Arsenia of Half Moon Bay, Calif., Samuel and Terri of Kennewick, Wash., Daniel and Linda of Spokane, and Steven of Lake Havasu City, Ariz.; three daughters, Melissa and Brad Solbrack of Kennewick, Wash., Melanie and Scot Rindal of Carson City, Nev., and Sonia and Vince Gavin of Missoula.

Ben is also survived by three granddaughters, Erin Matheson and Jason of Seattle, JoAnna LaTorre of Olympia, Wash., and Eugenia Hurlbut of Half Moon Bay; and three grandsons, Thomas Hurlbut of Half Moon Bay, Seth Solbrack of Kennewick, and Roy Rindal of Carson City; sister-in-law, Beverly and Richard Sanders of Basin, Wyo.; and five nephews and two nieces. He also leaves behind many 'granddogs.'

Funeral services will be at 10 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 11, at St. Pius X Catholic Church, 18th St. W. and Broadwater Avenue in Billings with burial services following at Sunset Memorial Gardens, 1721 Central Ave., Billings.

The family suggests memorials to the MSU Foundation, P. O. Box 172750, Bozeman, MT 59717-2750.

Michelotti-Sawyers is assisting with arrangements.