SHERIDAN-Funeral services for George Kimble, 86, will be conducted at 11:00 a.m. today at Champion Ferries Funeral Home, with Pastor Bob Miller officiating.

He died May 20, 2001, at Westview Health Care Center in Sheridan.

He was born Dec. 23, 1914, on the old George Bethurem Ranch in the Prairie Dog Creek area, the son of Charles and Flavel (Bethurem) Kimble. He was raised on a homestead near Otter, Mont., where he rode horses to the Gopher School before coming to Sheridan..  He graduated from Sheridan High School.

On May 21, 1938, he married Leola Stewart in Sheridan.

During World War II, they moved to San Francisco, where he worked for a defense contractor. They returned to Sheridan after the war and he worked as a carpenter.  His favorite part of the job was sanding many of the wood floors in area homes and the Sheridan College Golden Dome.

He enjoyed camping in the mountains with his family; woodworking in his shop; and, later in life, going for rides in the country.  He was a member of the SOS support group.

Survivors include two sons, Stewart Kimble of Harbor City, Calif., and Tom Kimble of Summerville, S.C.; five daughters, Jean Epley of Scottsdale, Ariz., Beth Kimble-Powers of Yorba Linda, Calif., Ann Slaybaugh and Laura Ackermann, both of Sheridan, and Mary Jo Kimble of Milo, Maine; one brother, David Kimble of Buffalo; two sisters, Florence Berry of Reno, Nev., and Juanita Hornback of Sequim, Wash.; 16 grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his wife in 1991 and by one sister, Bea Thomas, in 1998.