On Friday July 31, 2015, Eugene Lyle "Gene" Hilty, 82, hitched up his favorite horses and left this world, driving that team to the pearly gates of Heaven. A memorial service will be held on Friday, August 7, 2015 at 10:30 a.m. at the Colfax Methodist Church. Private family burial will precede the service at the Colfax Cemetery.

Gene was born on April 24, 1933 in Colfax to Lyle & May (Day) Hilty. He grew up in Colfax and graduated from Colfax High School with the class of 1952. On March 6, 1953, Gene married his high school sweetheart, Margaret Doty. The couple settled outside of Colfax where Gene worked for Hugh Huntley and later Henry Niehenke before starting his own operation on leased land in the 1970s. Gene and Margaret raised a family of four daughters while also farming full time.

Gene was very active with the Palouse Empire Fair & Rodeo including serving as a co-founder (along with Oscar Steiger) of the annual Plowing and Threshing Bees. He served as a 4-H leader when his daughters were younger and was also a member of the Whitman County Sheriff's Posse. In 1982, Gene and Margaret moved to Salinas, Kansas where Gene began his career in the draft horse industry. Gene and Margaret returned to Whitman County in 2012, where they resided in Garfield.

Gene's passion was for horses and in his retirement years, he developed an even greater compassion for his team of Belgian draft mules, Bonnie and Betty. There wasn't any task with horses and mules that he couldn't do – breaking, training, driving, or showing – he loved it all. He and Margaret spent many years traveling the United States and Canada putting on clinics on how to drive show hitches, among those big hitches, Gene drove for Coors Brewery in Colorado and VanExcell Dairy in Lodi, California. Most of all, Gene was a loving husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather who will be missed by many for his kind nature and caring smile.

He is survived by his wife of 62 years, Margaret Hilty of Garfield; daughters Janet Hedlund of Garfield, Barbara (Tim) Schluneger of Colfax, Christine (Jim) Powers of Wapato and Nancy (Kevin) Brunson of Platville, Colorado; brother Richard (Janet) Hilty of Nampa, Idaho and Leah (Darrell) Presnell of Olympia; nine grandchildren and six great grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents and one sister, Virginia Ray.

Memorial contributions are suggested to the Palouse Empire Fair Foundation for the benefit of the Plowing and Threshing Bees. Bruning Funeral Home of Colfax has been entrusted with funeral arrangements.