Edward “Ed” Eberling, 89 of Sidney, MT passed away on Thursday, June 5, 2025, at the Roosevelt Medical Center, Culbertson, MT.

Ed was born August 24, 1935, in Wolf Point, Montana. He was the son of Christ and Elizabeth (Damm) Eberling who homesteaded in the Culbertson area. Ed was one of nine children: John, Mary, Bertha, Ida, Harry, Willy, Amy, Eddy and Joyce.

Ed graduated from Poplar High School in 1955 and later attended Northern Montana College in Havre. He married his true love and friend Antonette “Toni” Klette on June 16th, 1957, at Pella Lutheran Church in Sidney. Toni was a first-year teacher in Poplar and Mr. Ed, as she called him, was the janitor at the time at Poplar School. Toni was told by a college professor, “make friends with the custodian and your job will be easier!” She did! They were married for over 65 years!

Ed and Toni moved to Havre in 1958 where Toni taught and Ed worked for the State of Montana Highway Department. Later they transferred to Helena and then moved to their permanent home in Sidney where he worked as a custodian in the Sidney Schools for 37 years.

From this wonderful marriage came three sons, Michael, Mark, and Marvin, whom he loved to follow their sporting events and successful careers. He loved his growing family so much and was a proud dad, grandpa, great grandpa and husband.

Ed lived a life of service to his family, country, community and his church. He received the SEA Friend of Education award for his dedication to Sidney Schools, was a member of the Army National Guard, an Exalted Ruler for the Sidney Elks Lodge, Pella Lutheran Church Council and member for over 60 years where he served on the building and grounds committee, Sons of Norway member/master cook of Richland County Fair Vikings, served as Chairman on the Richland Homes Board, and a proud Sidney Health Care Board member who helped break ground on his pet project, The Lodge, an assisted living complex in Sidney.

Ed enjoyed coffee each morning with his friends. He could also start up a conversation with a complete stranger and in seconds find common ground and have a lifelong friend! One of his favorite things was looking for Montana license plates. If there was a 27, 17 or 34 on that plate he would strike up a conversation about that particular county. He loved family activities including camping, fishing, lake time with friends at the Fort Peck cabin, yard work and most of all checking on his beloved ELazyS Ranch near Lambert. In later years he loved to tap his cane on his grain bins to see if they were full!

Ed and Toni loved to travel and enjoyed many wonderful trips with family and friends. They packed up in the winter months to spend several winters in their second home at Lake Havasu City, Arizona. In planning their funerals they wrote, “Hey, let’s have fun! We made this journey to heaven and didn’t even have to pack!”

Ed was preceded in death by his devoted wife Toni in 2022; his parents Christ and Elizabeth; sisters Mary Hilla, Bertha Paulson, Ida Paulson, and Joyce Eberling; and brothers John, Harry and Willy.

He is survived by his loving family – sons Mike (Paula) of Sidney, Mark (Judi) of Tucson, Arizona, and Marvin (Kathy) of Plentywood; grandchildren Charity Eberling (Jared Poland), Marissa Eberling, Kallie (Michael Solc), and Andrew Eberling (Laurel Redmond); great grand-children Kendal & Landon Poland and Soleil Antoinette Solc; step-grandchildren Cindy (Matt Johnson), Katie (Ted Brown) and Melinda (Chad Fischer), step-great-grandchildren Mikela, Skylar, Elijah, and Brielle, Anna, Will, Ella, Bryce and Rachel and sister Amy Damm.