Elgin Hundtoft

TORRINGTON, WY.....Memorial services for ELGIN B. HUNDTOFT, 74, will be held on Saturday December 20, 2008 at 10am at the Riverside Church of Christ 615 Main Street in Torrington, Wyoming with Pastor Gary Flom officiating. Cremation has taken place. Private family burial will be at a later date. Memorials may be made to Prairie Haven Hospice. Elgin died on December 13. Arrangements are under the direction of the Colyer Funeral Home and friends are invited to send condolences to the family at billienews@vistabeam.com and ww.colyerfuneralhome.com He was born August 21, 1934 in Sidney, Montana, the son of Jacob Christian and Lula Christine (Petersen) Hundtoft. He was the seventh of nine children; five boys before, one girl, then Elgin, and two boys after. He was educated and a graduate of Sidney Montana High School in 1952. Elgin attended nine years of college, and in 1960 he received a Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, BA in Agriculture Engineering, and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Montana State University. In 1962 he received a Masters in Agriculture Engineering from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. In 1969 he also received a PhD in Agriculture Engineering from the University of Wisconsin in Madison. Elgin served as a Full Professor in Hawaii and Arizona. Elgin married Billie Williams on December 18, 1954 in Portland, Oregon. He enlisted into the Army during the Vietnam Conflict and received honorable discharge on January 18, 1962. They lived in the states of Washington, Oregon, Montana, Arizona, New York, Hawaii, Colorado, and Wyoming. He traveled with his boyhood friend, Stan McIntire, to different locations to help with harvesting. Milking cows helped to provide tuition in Montana. He did research analysis for many companies when not serving at a university. Elgin loved the mountains, hiking, and running. He lived to learn, lived for research, and lived to teach those who wanted the same. Elgin loved to invent things like the Papaya Harvester, drip irrigation systems for Hawaii, renovating abandoned wells, and landscaping condemned properties where they lived into “Havens of Rest”. He was fantastic with the harmonica, and people were blessed with his sense of humor. Tigger, his cat, was his constant comfort during his last days with cancer. Elgin is survived by his wife, Billie of Torrington, two daughters, Kathy laCour and her husband Jon of Wyoming, Jennifer Hundtoft of Alaska, one sister Myrna Brandt of Oregon, brothers Sherman and Neil Hundtoft, both of Oregon, Don Hundtoft of Florida, Kenneth and Jerry Hundtoft, both of Hawaii, and Casper Hundtoft of Washington, eight grandchildren, and seven great grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents, one brother, son, Byron Hundtoft and daughter Patricia Webb.

Elgin Hundtoft

August 21, 1934 - December 13, 2008