Jody Lillibridge, 58, Belfield, died Monday, December 23, 2019 of natural causes at his home. There will be a memorial service for Jody at 1 p.m., Friday, December 27, 2019 at Ladbury Funeral Service with Pastor Larry Vickery and Pastor Rande Kerr officiating. Private family burial will take place at the Medora Community Cemetery. Visitation will be one hour prior to the service on Friday.
My beloved son, Jody Roy Lillibridge, was born in Dickinson on February 20, 1961. Delighted parents, Sylvia Haas Lillibridge and Robert “Bunky” Lillibridge, welcomed him joyously. There was a lot of snow that winter but the weather cleared enough so Bunky could come into Dickinson to see his wonderful son.
Jody grew up on the Double L Ranch in Billings County. He learned to ride, make hay, operate tractors, balers, snowmobiles and other equipment, care for the livestock, and take an active part in all the work of an operating cattle ranch. He showed an early aptitude for mechanics when, at age 3, he lay beside his tricycle with a screwdriver and a pair of pliers, “fixing” it.
Jody went through grade 8 in Tester Elementary School in Billings County. His first year of high school was in Dickinson. He switched to Belfield and graduated from high school there. He attended Bismarck Junior College, graduating from the auto mechanics program. He worked at Bender’s Chevrolet in Killdeer for one year, returning to BJC, and graduated from the welding program. He worked at many different welding jobs, including owning his own welding truck during the first oil boom.
Jody got a commercial driver’s license and drove a semi, hauling production water in the oil patch, after which he decided to take a truck driving course and go over the road with a flat bed, hauling many different loads all over the United States and Canada.
Jody was the maintenance man at Trappers Kettle Restaurant for ten years. He then went back to the oil patch, working for Missouri Basin Incorporated where he drove an A train and hauled crude oil to tank batteries. At the present time, Jody was working as a field operator for ONEOK.
Jody loved riding motorcycles, dirt bikes, and pedal bikes and spent many happy hours in the Badlands on them. He also had a great love for old cars. He owned a procession of different old cars from the time he was a sophomore in high school. He drove them, fixed them up, and then usually traded or sold them. They were replaced with some other car that needed TLC. He especially valued finding and giving a 1920’s Chevy pickup to his father, who shared his passion for old vehicles of all kinds. Jody and Bunky worked together in the shop at the ranch where he learned skills in many kinds of repair. He and his father also had a bond, loving guns and enjoying hunting, shooting, and trapping together.
Jody loved music. He played a guitar for his own enjoyment and for church events. He had very eclectic tastes, enjoying everything from hard rock to blues and everything in between. In spite of a long history of expressed hatred of cats, he adopted a stray, named her Honey, worried when she didn’t show up as expected, and spent many contented hours with Honey curled up on his lap purring.
Jody had friends from all walks of life, evidenced by the help he provided for many in any way required. He opened his home and shop to his friends, and that shop had such a large variety of “stuff” in it he could provide almost anything anyone needed; he loved doing it. He had many life-long friends whom he deeply cherished.
Jody was a quietly committed Christian with a deep appreciation for God’s creation. He carefully watched anything that grew, crawled or flew. He took dozens of photos of the natural wonders he saw when his work took him into the Badlands of North Dakota.
Jody worked hard, dedicating honest efforts to every job he ever had. He went the second mile with his employment and his friends. He relished life. The promise of eternal life is now reality for him. Those who love and serve the Lord never say goodbye for the last time. We await a joyous reunion.
Jody is survived by his mother, Sylvia H. Lillibridge and many aunts, uncles and cousins who love him so dearly. He was preceded in death by his father, Bunky Lillibridge, his sister, Heidi Lillibridge Michelson, all of his grandparents, and many aunts and uncles.
