Tobin Noel Hird, 41

Once upon a time an incredibly sweet baby was born... with a folded ear and a flattened chin. His Grandmother held him and said.... don't worry we will always love him... and we have. Folded ear and flat chin disappeared in his first months.

Tobin Noel Hird was born June 28, 1979, in Ridgecrest, California. We celebrated his second birthday in Sitka, Alaska. He and his pal, Cole Lackey, played on our dirt road and when they were scolded for getting their clothes muddy, their solution was to take all of their clothes off. The tour bus company called to say the tourists were mortified. We had one of our great laughs. When Tobin was 4, he and Cole were eating blueberries and decided to wash their hands in the river. They had both had very serious lectures about not going in the water, but Cole fell in the river. Tobin ran to the very close college, found the EMTs in a meeting. Two of them received Medals of Valor for pulling Cole out. Tobin loved to fish and catch crab; he learned to ice skate on the skating pond.

When Tobin was 4 we moved to Kalispell. He learned to cross-country ski at the Conrad Mansion and ski Big Mountain. Tobin and Mark Manning went to Space Camp in Florida at 10. In sixth grade he was Student Body President at Hedges. At 12 he went to France with his mother and sister Emi, and he decided that if he could juggle he could earn money. The following year we were walking up town in New York City, Tobin stopped at a fruit stand, purchased three oranges and as we walked along he juggled. A woman stopped him and gave him a dollar... yet another great laugh. His Junior year he was a foreign exchange student and became fluent in Dutch and played soccer in Spain. After two years at Bozeman, as an Art Major, he decided to take his art talent to San Diego. He painted and surfed for 15 years.

Back to Kalispell for new adventures and to be with his many Montana friends.

Tobin was loved by all. He was creative, talented and had a marvelous sense of humor. His generosity will give two people sight.

A private gathering of friends and family will take place.

Tobin has left behind an incredibly broken hearted family; his mother Deb and stepfather Jeremy Newell; father Bruce Hird, stepmother Debbie, and sister Emelia (Robert) Rounseville, stepbrothers Aaron (Sarah) and Matt (Erin) Newell, along with aunts and uncles, nieces and nephews.

Tobin is on to new adventures. We all look forward to being with our treasured Tobin again.