Lyle "the Croc" Humphrey, "Lyley Coyote"

Lyle Humphrey, age 72 of Yuma, Colorado:

Lyle began and ended his life living from his heart. He was born in Hettinger, North Dakota, on January 7, 1942, and grew up in the Haynes, North Dakota area. He passed away on June 9, 2014. He loved the countryside, quiet, a few good neighbors, a simple home cooked meal, and he loved living on his farm. Following his successful career as a lighting engineer with Martin Marietta and Westinghouse, he ran his own lighting company (Humphrey Lighting Company). He knew he was trapped in an office in Denver, so Lyle promised himself he would drop everything to go back to his roots and live his life in a way that was true to him. At age 40, Lyle kept his promises. He left everything to buy a farm and began the hard, unpredictable life of a farmer and rancher like his mother (Sophia Portnoy) and father (Alfred Leroy Humphrey) had been.

He hadn't been raised to show his emotions, but he knew how to take care of others in need. He had a special gift for seeing the real dreams and value of the person in front of him. He encouraged them with true wisdom to forget about what others thought and do what they truly knew was right for themselves. When you got a chance to chat with him in the kitchen with his red mug of black coffee in his hand, or over his end-of-the-day heaping bowl of chocolate ice cream (he never gained a pound), or out in the shed where he was working on a hundred repairs at the same time and showing his creativity for making something out of nothing, restoring an engine or watering the garden where he grew too many green beans to can for the winter, gourds to make his wife happy for her craft projects, and pumpkins for the children at the annual "Boo in the Barn" Halloween celebrations, you felt lucky that he seemed, in very little time, to really understand what you were all about. And you walked away feeling stronger and feeling really appreciated -- two things to treasure, as they happen so rarely in life. That was the natural, unassuming way Lyle could truly made you feel respected, understood, and supported for being true to your nature.

This rare ability to stay true to his beliefs and values sometimes forced him to make difficult choices in life, but it was one of the things his wife Pate admired the most. If it was right, it was right. And there was nothing you could say or do to keep Lyle from being true to that knowledge. The simple pleasures he loved were calling his brother Ernie, his double cousin Loyal Carrico, or his best friend, from age four, Arlin Bartels on the phone, never answering the house phone or touching a cellphone, watching political news and enjoying debating it with you, turning on his mom's old stereo LP record player that he treasured, to listen to The Tractors - always playing loudly in the living room with his other best friend, constant companion, and snuggle buddy on his lap, Thomas-Thomas - a black cat he rescued and who's trust he earned over the years and, like an faithful farm dog, never left his side.

Lyle was a truly proud father of two daughters, Monica Hager and Kimberly Jones and an equally proud granddad to five sweet grandchildren Amanda, Melissa, and Sara Jones, Jason, and Bradley Hager. He was admired, loved and appreciated by his wife, Pate, who is grateful and happy to have just celebrated, five days before his return to God, their 20th wedding anniversary with their traditional romantic T-bone dinner out at Big Ed's in Bird City, Kansas.

Lyle died on his beloved farm and will be buried in the Scholass Cemetery, in South Dakota alongside his father and the ancestors he loved so much - and had researched enthusiastically, but we will be keeping his much-marked-up Bible that he spent hours studying and cross-referencing, because we need it more than he does. Lyle, always practical and wise, knew that when the Lord was ready, he would be, too. So we know he is in good hands and we are grateful he lived life to the fullest, right up until the last minute, just like he wanted to. We're going to miss him. We already do. We love him, and we are also frankly going to miss all the small things he did during his daily routine. They were so regular and predictable that we think the International Clock probably set itself by him, so we can expect some trouble in the following months as it adjusts to a new system. We know we're going to have some trouble. We thank you for your kindness at this time, and we send love to all his friends and family and invite you to come out and visit the farm and talk to Pate about the man we all love.

A Funeral Service will be held on Saturday, June 14, 2014 at 10 a.m., at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Third and Kamala, in Yuma, Colorado.

Interment will be in the Scholass Cemetery west of Shadehill, SD at 9:00am on Tuesday morning, June 17