The Funeral will be live streamed on the You Tube link: https://youtu.be/mX-Pl2HaeHU

If the stream should fail, the service will be recorded and uploaded within 24 hours after the service.

The Family Prayer Service You Tube Link is: https://youtu.be/E61PMj75XUU

Edward "Ed" George Coombs walked through the gates of Heaven and into the loving arms of Jesus on February 7, 2022. The previous day friends and family surrounded him both in person and via phone at Sanford Medical Center in Bismarck, ND.

Visitation will be held at the Hertz Funeral Home of Harvey on Friday, February 11, 2022, from 4:00 to 7:00. Family and friends will gather for a family service at 7:00 pm led by Rev Steve Doerr, son of Myrl (Coombs) Doerr.

A Celebration of Life will be held Saturday, February 12, 2022, at 2:00 pm at the Cornerstone Community Church North Campus in Harvey.

Burial will be in held in the spring at the Evangelical United Brethren Cemetery, Anamoose, ND.

Ed was born on October 12, 1930, at the home of his parents, Walter and (Emily) Lavonne (Williams) Coombs of rural Pickardville, ND, the little brother of three sisters (Ethelyn, Margaret and Myrl) and one brother (Sidney).  One sister, Marion, died in infancy. After graduating from the 8 ^th grade in ND and remaining home for a year, Walter and Lavonne sent him to Wessington Springs Junior College and Academy, Wessington Springs, SD. He stayed for almost a year, then ran away, returning home to ND. The following summer the Lord convicted him of his need for change, and at the Free Methodist Summer Camp meeting in Valley City, ND, he gave his heart to the Lord. He returned to Wessington Springs the following school year a changed boy completing a year and a half of education in one so he could graduate with his classmates. That year he met and fell in love with a beautiful, talented young woman with a heavenly voice named Mary Ann Waller, the daughter of the head of the New Jerauld County Hospital, Rev. Fred Laken Waller. On December 20, 1950, Ed married Mary Ann, and together they embarked on what would become a 71+ year marriage producing a large, rambling family, now numbering 8 children (1 deceased), 24 grandchildren (1 deceased), 67 great grandchildren (1 deceased) and 1 great great grandchild.

After graduation Ed returned home to farm with Walter; by this time, Walter had moved the family three times: from the Pickardville farm site to a farm site (now Pete's (Engen)Tractor Salvage) to the site 13 miles south of Anamoose on highway 14.

After the wedding, Ed brought his new bride to join his parents on the family farm, living with them for two years, then establishing their own home a mile away. Ed purchased another farm a few miles west from Edwin Rau, setting the stage for what Ed and Mary Ann hoped would be an extended family farm. That dream was never fulfilled, however: although Kevin, Jeff, Ellery, Jody and Wendy took their turns farming with Ed, all left farm life to pursue other careers.

As a Depression era dryland farmer, Ed knew that a reliable, high quality and affordable source of water was critical to successful dry land farming. Concerned about the future of farming, Ed threw his weight behind a large multistate water project known as the Garrison Diversion Project. In the late 60's he sold then leased back the farm site and the surrounding farmland for the proposed Lone Tree Reservoir, continuing to live and farm there until the lease ended in the late 80's. Ed also served on the ND Water Conservation Board promoting irrigation projects in central ND. At one of those meetings, Ed met Nelda Thomas, a reporter for Irrigation Age Magazine. Ed discovered that Nelda also sang in a gospel trio, and he invited them to provide special music at Trail Ride camp that summer. Nelda, Alice and Jeanine joined the Trail Ride family, and Nelda became the namesake of a Trail Ride missionary scholarship program Ed loved and supported.

In 1973, Ed, in partnership with his brother Sidney Coombs, Garden City, KS, purchased the Martin School building and created the ND division of Sid's manufacturing company, BoCats, Inc. Ed's sons Jeff and Les Coombs joined him at BoCats, Inc., manufacturing hopper bottom trailers and hopper bottom grain bins. From 1975-1984 Jeff and Les worked alongside Ed in sales and production in ND, MN, MT, SD & WY, Alberta, BC, & Manitoba. A nationwide recession brought an end to BoCats, Inc. manufacturing. Ed bought Sid out in the late 80's, and formed Central Dakota Enterprises. Central Dakota Enterprises became a fabrication shop, with David Bender as manager.

Ed wasn't a hobby guy, but he loved horses, his family and the Lord. 1967, Ed and Rev. Clarence Stanley, pastor of the
Elgin United Methodist Church, combined all three of Ed's loves and created a Christ centered family camp featuring music, worship, evangelism, family, horses and the glorious backdrop of the ND Badlands. Ed, Clarence and others met for the first United Methodist Trail Ride in the south unit of the ND Badlands, near Medora, ND. Ed's dream of spreading the gospel through the Trail Ride continues to this day 50 + years later. Clarence served as Head Trail Master for the first few years, then the leadership transitioned to Ed until the 50 ^th anniversary of TR, when his son Jeff took the reins.

Though Ed and Mary Ann lived in Martin since 1983, they remained members of the Drake United Methodist Church. Some time later they started attending the Martin Baptist Church, enjoying a church family who loved and appreciated them. Ed supported both financially and spiritually many pastors and missionaries associated with both denominations, as well as others including Wycliffe (nephew Rev Steve Doerr), One Challenge Mission (grandson, Donovan Dugan) People International (honorary granddaughter, Katya Shilling), and Teen Challenge (TR friend, Phil Wolverton).

Ed served as a delegate to the ND state Republican party convention for many years.

Ed loved trips! On his wedding day, his new father-in-law made him promise to take his family on trips, and not work all the time. From Canada fishing trips, to mission trips in Africa, South America and Central America, to road trips across the US, Ed saw traveling as an opportunity to learn, to discover, to enjoy family, and often to serve the Lord as well. For example, Ed helped build a hospital morgue in Kenya, Africa. In Zambia, Africa, Ed, along with his brother Sid, brought the parts from the US, then assembled a corn mill. During that trip, the local sheriff, resentful of their intrusion, threw them into jail overnight and confiscated their passports. Nephew Steve Doerr rescued them the next day, and they completed their corn mill project.

As a man, a husband, father and grandfather, Ed modeled North Dakota toughness, resilience, stoicism, in essence a "get on with it" attitude. Ed demonstrated his resilience by recovering from a horrendous payloader accident in the late 70's, a quadruple bypass with a mitral valve replacement in 2005, then another mitral valve replacement in 2019, diabetes and other associated illness, including Covid-19 in 2021. His family and friends knew him as a strong, stoic man who took life in stride without comment. Ed was fun, but not funny: I never heard him tell a joke or even a funny story, but his grandchildren remember him as the fun grampa who encouraged them to take risks, took them horse riding every Sunday,  taught them to drive (lawnmowers, tractors, and other somewhat dubious 2, 3 and 4 wheeled vehicles), taught them to shoot a 22, brought them (slightly dangerous) random items at auction sales, let them explore the world on their terms. As a father, he expected his children to be like him, and gave them lots of practice "figuring it out" on the farm and in life. And if they failed, he was always there to pick them up and repair what they broke. He was affectionate, but not demonstrative. He was loyal, almost to a fault.

"Grampa" Ed knew his place in life as at the dinner table. In all his endeavors from farming to BoCats to Trail Ride, trips,  and everything in between, Ed focused on his job as family patriarch to ensure a future for his family, both on earth and in heaven. Nothing gave him greater joy than knowing his family was secure in the Lord; nothing gave him greater pain than thinking anyone of his family would be lost.

Ed is survived by his wife Mary Ann, his two daughters Wendy (Paul) Kelleher of Fountain Hills, AZ, and Julie (Lon) Dugan of Shakopee, MN, and his five sons, Kevin (Mary Beth) Martin, ND, Jeff (Susan) Longview, TX, Les (Deborah) Redding, CA, Ellery (Vicki) Jamestown, ND, and Jody (Shari) Mayville, ND.

Ed is survived by 24 grandchildren and 1 honorary grandchild: (Kevin) Sarah Gietzen, Jason Coombs; (Jeff) James Coombs, Justin Coombs; (Les) Nicole Franklin, Jeffrey Coombs; (Ellery) Eric Coombs, Melissa Faul, Christopher Coombs; (Wendy) Eva Garringer, Gabriel Knudsen, Reba Allen; (Julie) Donovan Dugan, Darren Dugan, Ryan Dugan, Daniel Dugan, Amy Holmquist; (Jody) Jori Crutchfield and Jessica Coombs; Katya (Voltchkova) Shilling.

Ed is survived by 67 great grandchildren and 3 honorary great grandchildren.

Ed was preceded in death by his parents Walter and Lavonne Coombs, his siblings Sidney, Ethelyn, Margaret and Sarah Myrl, his son, Sheldon Coombs, who died in a tragic oil field accident in Egypt (June 4, 1985), his granddaughter Cynthia Knudsen (Jan 5, 2002) and 1 great grandchild Peyton Coombs (Feb 4, 2012).