Lillian Louise (Menge) Hamby

Life’s journey ended for Lillian Louise (Menge) Hamby, 91, of Beulah, ND passing away on March 2, 2026 after contracting the virus RSV and pneumonia - with her son and daughter-in-law at her side. Services will be held at 10:00 AM CT on Monday, March 9, 2026 at Barbot Funeral Home, Beulah, ND with Pastor Dana Coyle officiating. Interment will follow at Beulah City Cemetery.

Lillian was born in Hazen on April 29, 1934 to Johann and Elizabeth (Seiglock) Menge, the youngest of 16 children. She grew up on the farm 12 miles NW of Hazen, attending farm school and living the life of most farm kids of that era. In 1943 her parents parted, with her father remaining on the farm and her mother taking Lillian and her next youngest daughter (Evangeline) to live in Beulah. It was in Beulah that Lillian attended school through the eighth grade and was confirmed at Zion Lutheran Church. After graduating eighth grade, she worked to help support her mother at the Greystone Hotel Café.

It was at the Greystone Hotel Café that Lillian met her life partner. In 1948 a young craftsman by the name of Grady Hamby in the pipefitting/welding profession, travelled to Beulah to work on a project at the Beulah Electric Power Plant on the east end of town. He frequented the café for many of his meals and that became the beginning of their journey together. After a year of courting they married on September 8, 1949 and on July 10, 1950 had their first child (Tyrone). Since Grady worked in the heavy industrial construction sector (refineries, pipelines, power plants), Lillian and her young family tended to live a life of travelling to wherever that work was available – whether it be in Alabama, Tennessee, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, or Ohio. Many times those jobs lasted only a few months or even weeks, necessitating living in hotels, motels, the occasional trailer, and even for short periods at the worksite parking lots. It was during this time that Lillian’s second child (Patricia) was born on March 19, 1953.

The 1950’s were a difficult period for Lillian’s family until 1959 when more stable work appeared around Ellsworth AFB in South Dakota with the installation of the Minuteman Missile complex. For over two years Lillian cared for her family in the Rapid City area until a better opportunity appeared near her hometown of Beulah, when the Minot AFB Minuteman Missile complex began construction in 1961. This was the perfect chance to establish roots near several of her siblings and family living in the Beulah/Hazen area. In June of 1961 the move to Beulah enabled the purchase of a lot in town and the beginnings of her forever home in a 10’x50’ trailer that over the next 20 years evolved into one of the finest homes in town. Fortuitously, the ending of the missile construction around Minot AFB coincided with the beginnings of the many electric power plant constructions at Stanton, Center, and eventually Beulah which provided a good living.

After the graduations of Lillian’s children from Beulah High School she decided to enter the workforce after being a homemaker for over 25 years. Lillian started at the Beulah “Man Camp” in the mid 1970’s working in the cafeteria. When the Man Camp work finished she found long term employment at the Sakakawea Hospital in Hazen until the death of Grady on June 11, 1993. For several years taking care of her home was her priority until accepting a job as a custodian at the Beulah Middle School where she worked until her retirement in 2014 at the age of 80.

While working, taking care of children, and a home were very important for Lillian, she always found time for leisure and travel when possible. The 90’s thru 2000’s saw a flurry of travel when possible. It was also a time of sorrow and tragedy in August 2006 when Lillian’s daughter Patricia died from breast cancer and two years later Lillian herself was diagnosed with breast cancer. Lillian’s cancer was cured after five years and she remained healthy the rest of her life. But, she made a point to try experiencing the world. First was a trip to Hawaii with her neighbor Norma Unruh, next a cruise to Alaska with her sister Ella, then an excursion to South Korea with her sister Martha that enable her to visit her son Tyrone who was in the Army stationed there at the time. She never missed a chance to visit her siblings in Washington and Idaho and participating with her niece Bonnie in the Bay to Breakers walk/run in San Francisco. Lillian then visited Europe on a River Cruise thru Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. The next big trip was to Ukraine in 2007 to visit the hometown from where her parents immigrated to the US in 1910. She was accompanied on this trip by her niece Bonnie and met in Kiev by Tyrone on leave from Afghanistan. Lillian was the only one of her siblings to be able to visit the region in Borodino, Ukraine (west of Odessa) where her parents were born. In 2008 Lillian travelled all by herself to Dubai, United Arab Emirates where she saw the sights with her son who met her while on leave from Afghanistan. Another friend (Betty Unruh) accompanied her on a bus trip to Florida, and her last overseas trip was in 2013 travelling back to Ukraine with Tyrone’s wife Svitlana to visit her daughter-in-laws relatives. How she could balance all that travel, work schedule, and meticulous home upkeep by herself in her later years testifies to the amazing woman and mother she will always be remembered for by all who knew her. Mom, you will be loved forever as we travel to meet you when our time comes.

Lillian is survived by her son Tyrone and his wife Svitlana in Beulah, grandsons Marcus in Bismarck, Derek (Kerri) in Colorado Springs, Patricia’s sons Jason (Gwen) and Justin (Krista) in Fargo and great-grandchildren: Willow, Hannah, Ava, Renner, Evan, Chase, Anthony, Jurnee, and Charlee. Lillian was preceded in death by her parents; her husband Grady, daughter Patricia, and siblings: Carl, Emilia, John, Martha, an infant brother, Edwin (1913), Edwin, Daniel, Frederick, Oscar, Erwen, Hubert, Ella, Lucille, Walter, and Evangeline.

Arrangements conducted by Barbot Funeral Home, Beulah and Hazen.

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