Earl Edward Heil

Earl Heil, 78, of Sagle, Idaho passed away at 10:45 pm Friday night after battling pancreatic cancer. Friends and relatives will always remember him as a very strong man, intelligent, witty, courageous, and noble. Funeral services will be conducted at 11:00 am, on Wednesday, March 7, 2012 in the Sagle Victory Baptist Church. Pastor David Hess and Pastor Jerry Favor will be officiating. Interment will be in the Westmond Cemetery. Earl, who originally hails from Marissa, Illinois, was a military police officer in the US Army's 1st Division (the Big Red One), and served in Germany during the Korean War. After the war he drove a dynamite truck for Atlas Explosives, obtained his pilot's license, and served as a small aircraft flight instructor in Sparta, Illinois. He spent many years with Peabody Coal Company as a mine safety executive at coal mines from Kayenta, Arizona to the Big Sky Mine in Montana. He was a life member of the NRA and was an expert marksman with both rifle and pistol. (He once deliberately hit a mosquito on a paper target at 100 feet with a scoped Universal M-1 carbine. And he often impressed people with his ability to toss a tin can in the air and hit it five times out of six before it hit the ground with almost any revolver.) He is survived by his wife, of 59 years, Dolly, Their 4 children, 8 grandchildren, and 1 great grandchild. He was a devoted husband and loving father, and will be sorely missed. Memorials my be made to the Sagle Victory Baptist Church in memory of Earl E. Heil