EAGLE BUTTE, SD – Everett Floyd Hunt passed away peacefully, surrounded by family, on April 27, 2026, at the Cheyenne River Health Center in Eagle Butte, South Dakota.

Everett was born on March 7, 1938, at Old Agency in Eagle Butte, South Dakota, to Ennis “Jack” Hunt and Jennie Annis Hunt. He was one of eleven children born to Jack and Jennie—one brother and nine sisters. Everett was raised on the Hunt family ranch south of Eagle Butte.

Everett attended middle school at a country school northwest of the family ranch and later graduated from Eagle Butte High School in 1957. After a few summer jobs and a couple of attempts at college, he graduated from Black Hills State University in 1965 with a major in Business and a minor in History. He later earned his master’s degree from the University of South Dakota.

Everett took a teaching job in Montana, where a man named Rudy introduced him to his daughter, Melinda Speers. The two were married, and with this union Everett instantly gained two daughters, Debbie and Lisa, whom he adopted without hesitation. Together, Everett and Melinda welcomed a son, John, in 1971. The family later moved back to the Hunt family ranch south of Eagle Butte, where Everett and John would form a partnership and work the ranch together for several years. Although John eventually took over running the ranch, Everett could still be found in the hay field—bossing John around—or simply hanging out with his grandchildren.

In 1983, Everett and Melinda welcomed twins Leigh and Lee (“Dooge”) Cudmore into their home, adding even more love to their family. Everett loved all five of his kids dearly. While he could be hard on them at times, he was always fair. He raised them with a strong work ethic, emphasized the importance of a good education, and instilled in them the value of knowing their way around both horses and cattle.

Everett was politically engaged and cared deeply about his community. He served on the Tribal Council from 1984 to 1988, including a term as Vice Chairman under Chairman Wayne Ducheneaux. Everett also dedicated eight years of service as a board member for Medicine Wheel Village, where he generously gave his time advocating for expanded services, including the addition of a dementia unit and palliative/hospice care. The staff at Medicine Wheel Village continue to work toward this goal today.

Everett found joy in the people and places he loved most. Debbie and Lisa were the apple of Everett’s eye from the beginning. He believed in drive and ambition—never “settling”—and was proud to see his daughters accomplish great things in their personal lives and careers. He enjoyed watching John compete in sports during high school, but he was perhaps his biggest fan in the rodeo arena as father and son traveled many miles together.

Everett also had a deep love for the outdoors and treasured time fishing and boating with his children and grandchildren. He looked forward to many elk-hunting trips to Colorado with his buddies Doug Davis and Danny Keller. In later years, he could often be found prairie dog hunting with his good friend Leo Fischer, and also his “doodlebugs,” Jessa and Kyler, and Jackson—whom Everett proudly called “Trigger.” Everett and Jackson made a great prairie dog hunting team, and Jackson affectionately gave Everett the nickname “Turbo.” Everett never failed to make his grandkids laugh, once joking, “I think I shot that one in the butt!” Toward the end of his life, John, Jessa, Kyler, and Jackson were Everett’s light—staying close to him and rarely leaving his side until the moment he went home with the Lord.

Everett also became lifelong friends with many of the people he did business with over the years. Many parts runs to Isabel would often result in him coming home with not a single part, but a smile on his face, and whiskey on his breath. Those trips were rarely just about business. Everett had a way of turning transactions into friendships. One of those friendships was with Jan Busse, whom Everett affectionately called “the white godfather.” Between the two of them, many pickups and pieces of equipment were bought and sold, and just as many lines of B.S. were traded—always with plenty of laughter.

Everett was part of a small gang known as “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.” Good friends and neighbors Andy Fischer and Bill Pothast—whom Everett fondly referred to as “the other two amigos”—completed the trio. Together, the three formed a lifelong friendship filled with laughter, stories, and more than a little booze. They were three cowboys who truly enjoyed life. In later years, Everett sadly became the last amigo left, and he missed his friends dearly.

Everett and Melinda also enjoyed many trips with Andy and Joy Fischer—whether carefully planned journeys spanning several days and states, or quick trips to Pierre to enjoy drinks and a good steak. Many memories were made along the way.

 

Everett adored all his grandchildren: Tyler, Drew, Dillon, Collin, Jessa, Kyler, and Jackson. He looked forward to visits from the Jordre’s every summer, spending time with grandsons Tyler and Drew. He could often be found attending countless basketball and football games, Collin’s rodeos and school events, and cheering from the baseball stands for his grandson Dillon. Everett would often say, “If I knew having grandkids was this much fun, I would’ve had them first.”

Everett was a complex man—steady in his convictions, with no gray area and a straightforward, black-and-white way of seeing the world. Yet beneath that firmness was a deep and unwavering love for his family and friends. Everett lived a long and full life and experienced the loss of many people he loved along the way. Toward the end of his journey in this world, some of his final words to his best friend and his son, John, were, “Thanks for sticking with me.”

Survivors include his wife, Melinda Hunt; daughters Lisa (Shannon) Jordre and Debbie Doolittle; son John (Laura) Hunt; grandchildren Tyler (Ashley) Jordre, Drew (Rhianna) Jordre, Collin (Paige) Hunt, Jessa, Kyler, and Jackson Hunt, and Dillon Doolittle; great-grandchildren Emma and Landon Jordre, with a baby Jordre (Drew and Rhianna) coming soon; his sisters Johnnie Nelson, Betsy Ducheneaux, Shirley Atkinson, Janice Eberhart, Sharon Hannum, and Midge Tiokasin; Good friends Dan and Lorraine Keller,Joy Fischer, Leo and Lois Fischer, and many nieces, nephews, friends, and neighbors too numerous to count. Preceded in death by his parents Jack and Jennie Hunt; brother Geno Hunt; and sisters Janet Campbell, JoAnn Webb, Lurene Raburn, a son Dooge Cudmore, a niece Diane Witt, a nephew Charlie Lake and special friends, Bill Pothast, Andy Fischer, Harold Clausen, Daryl Eberhard, Jerome “Jerry” and Sheryl “Sheri” Swan

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