Lloyd W. Hankel

Lloyd Hankel, 92, of Polson, MT, passed away on Tuesday, June 1, 2010 at St. Luke's Extended Care Facility in Ronan, MT where he had briefly been a resident. Lloyd was born on June 7, 1917 on a rural farm five miles south of Voltaire, ND and was one of 13 children of Louis and Augusta Hankel. He worked very hard for his father on the farm and grew to be a very strong man. On February 11, 1947, Lloyd married Barbara Klein, who passed away in November of 2008. From that union, four children were born, Charlotte, Cary, Bonnie, and Darnell. Lloyd and Barb farmed in the Sawyer and Bergen areas of North Dakota until they moved to Minot, ND in 1965. He worked at a variety of different jobs in farm machine assembly and then eventually retired from Burlington Northern Railroad in 1982. He and Barb moved to Polson, MT in 2008. Lloyd, as one of Jehovah's Witnesses, had a strong spiritual interest and what he learned from the Bible he freely shared with others, as this was a source of great joy for him. He was also master storyteller sharing stories about his younger days growing up in the North Dakota country and how he witnessed the changes of farming with horses, steam power, then tractors. He loved working on machinery and there was never a problem he could not fix. He also looked forward to a time when all mankind's problems would be solved by means of God's Kingdom. This is what he prayed for and strongly put faith in. Besides his parents, and wife, Barbara, he is also preceded in death by his siblings, Verna, Irene, Leona, Douglas, Gladys, Lyle, Kenneth, and Delores. Survivors include his four children, Charlotte (Gary) Leifson of Woodland, WA, Cary (Joan) Hankel of Jamestown, ND, Bonnie (Clayton) Jensen of Polson, MT, Darnell (Nancy) Hankel of Minot, ND: four sisters, Lorene Fennel of Murfreesboro, TN, Lenore (Frank) Ennaro of Marysville, WA, Eleanor Richards of Wenatchee, WA, Lucille (Frank) Klein of Kent, WA, and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren. The family would like to thank the staff and especially Dr. Paul Gochis of St. Luke Community Hospital in Ronan, for their attentive care to Lloyd. A memorial service will be held on Friday, June 4, 2010, 4:00 PM at the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses in Polson with Brad Marengo officiating. Private family burial was held at Lakeview Cemetery, Polson. Messages of condolence may be sent to the family online at www.groganfuneralhome.com. The staff of Grogan Funeral Home, Polson, considers it a privilege to care for Mr. Hankel's family.
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