Neil Eugene Hoesel

Neil Eugene Hoesel died on Monday, Feb. 22.

He was born on a farm near Winamac, on Jan. 4, 1928, to George and Gertrude (Powers) Hoesel. He grew up in that area graduating from Star City High School and then got his bachelor’s degrees from Purdue University in 1950.

Neil married Dixie Lyn King from Winamac and they had four great kids. 

He started his career as a mechanical/liaison engineer at Kingsbury Ordnance Plant — U.S. Army ordnance — in La Porte. He was schooled in quality control and pyrotechnics which helped later in the rocket business. He was in Flint, Michigan, with GMC, and the Chicago area with Monarch Silver King and the Richardson Company. In January 1959 he came to Brigham City, Utah, with Thiokol. He got his master’s degree from the University of Utah in engineering administration. He held several positions including quality assurance manager, project engineering manager and deputy director of space services at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. He retired in January 1989.

He played a lot of golf, gambled, fished, loved to fly and managed the farms we had acquired in Indiana. He had many wonderful, amazing friends in business and private life.

Neil is survived by Dixie and the children: Kevin, Shelley [Lee] Bilbao, Jerry and Cam, and adopted son Brett [Cathy] Ferguson; grandchildren: Amy, Danny Bilbao, Kim [Tony] Lallatin, Shawn [Amanda] Hoesel, Stacey [Jordan] Hendrix, Mindy [Logan] Pebworth, Michaela [Kevin] Bell and Marc Ferguson; and great-grandchildren: Jaxon, Kinsley, Rani, Brekken, Conlee, Charli, Cole, Rylie, Cooper, Tobin, Afton, Jackson, Roark, Harper and Chandler.

He was preceded in death by his parents and brother George Jr.

Neil was a charter member of Aldersgate Methodist Church, and a 71 year member of both the Masons and Elks.

A celebration of life will be held at a later date. 

(Pulaski County Journal — March 10, 2021)