On January 8, 2018, Coyote Hill Foster Care Ministries lost a long-time supporter and friend, Ira Hubbell. Ira and his late wife, Gail, donated the funds to build the third home on our property. The Hubbell Home was completed in the fall of 2000. During those 17 years, the Hubbell Home has given 165 children a safe place to be a child. Ira and Gail’s legacy of service will forever live on in the Hubbell Home.
Ira’s obituary states that he “valued what he could do for younger generations, supporting education and advancement for his Alma Mater in engineering and medicine, the 4-H, Coyote Hill Foster Care Ministries, the YouZeum, and the Shriners.” We will always be grateful for the tangible ways in which he and Gail expressed the value they placed on children by supporting the work of Coyote Hill Foster Care Ministries.
Ira will be missed by those who knew him, as evidenced by these comments from our staff and former staff:
I remember meeting Mr. Hubbell when he came to visit for dinner many years ago. He was such a robust man, with a lively spirit. The children all gravitated to him. He was funny and kind; generous with his time and attention.
~~Former Hubbell Home Parent Mom, Jolanda Scott
My fondest memory came when we had he and his wife(Gail) over to the house for dinner. We all wanted the house to look nice and we had been working really hard to make that happen. We had just got new flooring in the house, so we couldn’t even use the house for cooking the whole day and had to prepare food at another house. When he came in, he wanted to see all the children and meet them. He really didn’t care about how the house looked; the kids were more important. They went over to him and gave him hugs. They helped serve his meal and he was so grateful to them. I remember the look on his face, getting to see the kids that he had helped and how there was happiness because of what he had done. When his wife passed away we took the kids to the visitation and funeral. His compassion for the kids was evident and he wanted to see the kids, even as he struggled with the loss of his wife. We are thankful there are people who care about others like he cared about the kids.
~~Former Hubbell Home Parent Dad, Tim Hughes
From the first time I met Ira, his build and character reminded me of John Wayne. He was straightforward and passionate about most things, but especially about helping youth become successful. His heart reached out to many individuals in the community, and he privately helped put life changing dreams into motion for a few people I know. At Coyote Hill Foster Care Ministries, he helped expand the current property twice by purchasing adjacent parcels of land where our arena currently sits. I remember him sending one of our high school students in Cathy’s Home to a dream basketball camp, a camp the ministry couldn’t afford at the time. I will always remember his presence and the work ethic he instilled while working with our children on the property while putting up fence and managing the cattle he donated to us. He was personally invested in the people he sought to help, and he is missed by many here and in the community.
~~Site Director & former Cathy’s Home Parent, Bill Atherton
Ira was a one-of-a-kind, very special kind of guy. He loved the medical field, he loved his farm and the cattle, but most of all he loved helping kids at Coyote Hill Foster Care Ministries have a safe place to be a child. He became a good friend, and every time we got together his concern was always for the children. I will always remember fondly driving around the farm with him in his pickup truck, talking about all sorts of things, but one of those things was always how long a certain row of hedge posts had been in the ground and still standing strong. And I guess that’s how I remember Ira … a man who stood strong for 90 years, and whose legacy will stand strong for so many more in the changed lives of children.
~~Executive Director, Larry McDaniel
