Harriet R. (Williams) Weixel

Harriet Weixel, 85, of Cody, WY passed away unexpectedly at her home on Thursday, April 19, 2012. Harriet was born on a farm near Cleveland, North Dakota on February 5, 1927 to George and Helen (Robertson) Williams. The Williams were a family of ten, and Harriet was the third child. She lived in Cleveland, ND for the first 23 years of her life. She was active member and leader of the Mt. Pleasant and Pleasant Lassies 4-H clubs. On June 16, 1952 she married the love of her life, Elroy Weixel, who was in the Air Force stationed in Merced, CA. When Elroy was deployed to Korea, Harriet served as a Church of God Missionary in Southern Japan from 1953-1954. She attended Business College in Portland, OR, while Elroy attended college and became a minister. Upon graduation, she worked for the Oregon Fish and Game Department. In 1959, she and her husband moved to Merced, CA and served together as the congregation’s youth leaders. In 1961 they became youth leaders in South San Francisco; Harriet also started to work for the Department of the Army. In 1968, she transferred to the Defense Language Institute on the Monterey Peninsula. In 1980, she transferred to Fort Benjamin Harrison in Indianapolis, IN where she continued her career as a budget analyst until her retirement in 1989. Her husband, Rev. Elroy Weixel and she moved to Jerome, ID, to a Church of God. There she worked for the city and also started her writing career. She wrote for the Twin Falls Times News as their reporter. Harriet and Rev. Elroy went to Russia to teach the Bible in School #94 in the city of Chelyabinsk on the southwest corner of Siberia. While there, Harriet wrote a news story twice a month for publication in the Twin Falls Times. The governor of Idaho appointed Harriet to a Jerome County Commissioner’s position for two years, 1996-1997. In 2000, Harriet and Elroy moved to serve a congregation in Grand Rapids, MN where Harriet continued her reporting career for the Grand Rapids Herald Review. Then they served a congregation in Cody, WY in 2008. There she wrote for the Cody Enterprise until March 2011. Harriet loved to serve people and always tried to find something encouraging to say to every person she met. She would get them to share something special about their lives. She believed every person has a story; she made them feel important and connected them with God. Harriet is survived by her husband of 59 years, Pastor Elroy Weixel, two sisters, Kay (Norm) Aldinger of Jamestown, ND, and Tiny (Alvin) Exner of Ypsilanti, ND; four brothers: Ernest (Mae) of Cleveland, ND, Wilbert “Bill” of Gillette, WY, George P. (Lorraine) of Cleveland, ND, and Roger (Jolana) of Chelsea, OK; and brother-in-law, Reinhold Weixel of San Bernadino, CA. Harriet was preceded in death by her parents; two brothers, Almon and James “Tuff”; one sister, Margaret Weixel; and two sisters-in-law, Delores (Headland) and Marge (Kinzle). In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to The Gideons or to Mt. View Church of God’s Improvement Fund, Cody, WY.

Funeral Service: was held at 10:00 a.m., Tuesday, April 24, 2012 at Ballard Funeral Home, Cody, WY.

Burial: Riverside Cemetery, Cody, WY.

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