Pearl "Mickey" Elizabeth Thiel

Pearl (Mickey) Elizabeth Thiel passed away of natural causes at her home at the Rocky Mountain Manor in Powell, Wyoming on July 14, 2020.

Pearl was born on January 16, 1938 in Bearcreek, Montana. She was the seventh child of eight children born to Jesse and Alta (Copple) Hoke. Her older siblings nicknamed her “Mickey” after Mickey Mouse, the most popular Disney character at that time. Mickey enjoyed her youth exploring the mountains in and around Bearcreek.

When Mickey was a senior in high school, she moved to Dickinson, North Dakota to live with her older sister, Thelma. She graduated from Dickinson High School in May of 1956. On June 15, 1956 she married Kenneth Gary Dyer. She followed Kenneth living on different naval bases around the globe. Two boys, Richard Colt and Kenneth Jess were born to this union. When the marriage did not work out for the young couple, Mickey returned to Montana with the two boys.

Back in Montana, Mickey met, Laurence (Larry) Thiel. Mickey and Larry were married on November 10, 1962 in Belfry, MT. While married, the couple raised their family first in Red Lodge, Montana and then settled in Clark, Wyoming. Larry adopted Mickey’s two boys and together they had three more children, Betty Janice, Lloyd Earl and Lisa Dawn. Mickey enjoyed living in Clark and that is where she met her good friend, Clara Coburn.

Mickey lived her life by the motto from the Great Depression, “use it up, wear it out, make it due, or do without”. Mickey enjoyed gardening and was quite skilled at hiding the abundance of zucchini in the many different dishes served to her family.

Mickey was a proud mother and grandmother who enjoyed spending time with people around the table playing board or card games. The life lessons and discussions with everyone around the game table were dear to her. In recent years, her days were planned around the Bridge Club schedules. It was a rare day if anyone managed to beat Mickey as she was such a competitive player.

Mickey was an avid reader from an early age who loved losing herself in a good book. She enjoyed reading so much; she started writing her own novels in the 1970’s. Her novels were a product of her imagination that were loosely based on experience. One of her proudest accomplishments was seeing her books in print and sharing them with friends and family.

Mickey is survived by her five children, Colt Thiel, Jess (Val) Thiel, Betty Thiel, Lloyd (Tammy) Thiel and Lisa Thiel Wood; twelve grandchildren, Stacey, Richard, Dani, Breanne, Katie, Zach, Alex, Sam, Austi, Autumn, JD and Jarret; four great grandchildren, Max, Mady, Zoey, and Quentin; her long time friend, Clara Coburn; and numerous nieces and nephews. Mickey was preceded in death by her parents, Alta and Jesse Hoke; and siblings, Bud Hoke, Jesse Hoke, Thelma Bailey, Dora Jackson, Lillie Brown, Dolly Yates and Chuck Hoke .

The family will celebrate Mickey’s life at the Hoke family reunion on August 1, 2020 around 3:00 PM at the Hoke family ranch in the Bull Mountains. Friends and family are welcome to attend, please bring a lawn chair and memories of Mickey to share. The Hoke family ranch is now owned by her son Jess and is located at 519 Old Divide Road; Roundup, MT. Burial of ashes will take place on August 2, 2020 in the Belfry cemetery around 10:00 am.