Brian Noel Loucks

Dec. 25, 1956 – Mar. 7, 2021

Brian Noel Loucks died

peacefully in Minot, ND

on March 7, 2021. He was

64. Brian was born in

northeastern ND on De-

cember 25, 1956. His

middle name was selected

after his parents

researched origins of

names and discovered

Noel had been used since

the Middle Ages for both

boys and girls born during

the Christmas season.

When Brian was seven

months old his father was

transferred to Rugby, ND.

His parents bundled up

Brian and his bassinet,

packed his two older sis-

ters in the family car and

relocated to Rugby in

mid-1957. Although the

spelling of Brian’s middle

name caused confusion

for others, his real ribbing

came later when his pater-

nal grandmother

misspelled his name as

‘Brain’ on his birthday

card. One sister asked

him if he then thought

that made him “the brains

of the family.” Brian was

joined by the birth of his

third and final sister in

1958 and the family unit

was complete.

Brian loved football and

the outdoors. He partici-

pated in a local Punt, Pass

and Kick contest as a 6th

grader and brought home

a trophy for his punting

capabilities. His father

briefly entertained visions

of his son as a Green Bay

Packer but Brian secretly

favored the Vikings. Bri-

an loved the typical things

young boys loved. He had

cowboy boots and a

cowboy hat, a belt with

holsters, two silver cap

guns, rolls of caps, a

stick horse, bows and ar-

rows and later a BB gun.

He swam in the summer,

raced his bike and en-

joyed early years as a Boy

Scout. In the winter he

sledded, pulled the family

puppy on a toboggan and

built snow forts in the

back yard with his sisters.

He developed an affinity

for hunting and fishing.

He spent time on various

area lakes angling for

trout and walleye and in

winter accompanied his

father on ice fishing trips,

but his real passion was

bird hunting. He loved the

arrival of fall with its mi-

grating birds, crisp days,

sharper colors and grain

harvests. He was happiest

spending time with his fa-

ther, friends and older

cousins hunting ducks,

geese, partridge,

pheasants and grouse. He

helped his father with

cleaning, preparing and

freezing the game they

brought home.

Brian’s life changed

dramatically in 1971

when he suffered a trau-

matic brain injury during

a late afternoon football

game with classmates

Thanksgiving weekend. A

friend inadvertently

kicked the football on top

of an older two-story

school. Brian volunteered

to retrieve it so the game

could continue, but tragi-

cally Brian stepped onto a

patch of ice, lost his bal-

ance and plummeted two

stories to the gravel play-

ground below. The left

side of his head and body

took the brunt of the im-

pact. Brian was taken by

ambulance to the hospital

in Rugby; then air lifted to

a hospital in Fargo. He

lay in a coma for ten days

while neurosurgeons deli-

cately picked bone slivers

from Brian’s brain. His

family waited, not know-

ing if Brian would sur-

vive. Brian spent nearly

seven weeks in the hospi-

tal, much of it in intensive

care, but recovered

enough to return to Rugby

in January 1972. As a

result of the impact, Brian

permanently damaged his

optic nerve and lost the

peripheral vision in his

right eye. With the help

of his parents and high

school teachers he was

able to finish his fresh-

man year and to the as-

tonishment of all, he gra-

duated with his class-

mates in 1975. With en-

couragement from his

parents and teachers Bri-

an applied to the Wahpe-

ton School of Science

(now NDSSS) and was ac-

cepted into their automo-

tive mechanics program.

He graduated with an

Associate’s Degree in

Auto Mechanics in 1977

and was quickly hired by

the Baker-Hughes Cor-

poration in Casper, WY.

When that job ended, he

returned to Rugby where

he worked for Milten-

berger Sales and Rugby

Hydraulics before relo-

cating to Minot to pursue

his love of auto mechan-

ics. Brian suffered an ear-

lier heart attack in August

2020 while visiting his

friend, Judy Davis. Due to

the prevalence of Covid

19 patients in Minot, he

was flown to Bismarck to

undergo cardiac by-pass

surgery but returned

home to Minot after his

surgery.

Brian is survived by his

sisters, LaNeta Pieterick

(Gordon), Rugby, ND;

Wendy Loucks (Paul Hen-

drickson), Fargo, ND and

Laurie Domis, Dunseith,

ND; special friend Judy R.

Davis, Minot, ND and

several nieces and

nephews including Ray-

mond Pieterick (Melanie)

and their son, Kearney,

MO; Carlan Pieterick

(Erin), Rugby, ND; Luke

Hendrickson (Erica) and

their daughters, rural Far-

go, ND; Sarah Vander Wal

(Parker) and their chil-

dren, Argusville, ND; An-

drew Hendrickson (A-

manda), and their chil-

dren, Thompson, ND;

Krag Domis and his son,

Fargo, ND and Monique

Belgarde and her son,

Dunseith, ND.

Brian was preceded in

death by his parents, the

late Joyce and Curtis

Loucks, long time Rugby

residents and his paternal

and maternal

grandparents of LaMoure,

ND and Lisbon, ND

respectively.

The family would like

to thank the Thomas Fam-

ily Funeral Home of

Minot for handling Brian’s

remains and the Anderson

Funeral Home in Rugby

for their assistance in

choosing a headstone.

Condolences may be sub-

mitted through the Tho-

mas Family Funeral Home

website. Additionally, the

family would like to thank

Judy Davis, Minot, for her

affection and friendship

to Brian throughout the

years, and to Minot attor-

ney Richard R. LeMay for

his advice and counsel.

Brian was baptized into

the Lutheran faith as an

infant and confirmed at

Bethany Lutheran

Church, Rugby, ND. Bri-

an will be cremated and

his ashes will be interred

at the Loucks Family plot,

Priscilla Watts Cemetery,

Rugby, ND with a service

later this summer. Rest in

Peace dear brother, friend,

uncle and cousin. We love

and miss you. You must

now leave us but you are

welcomed home to your

Heavenly Father with

open arms.

Memorials may be sent

on line to the American

Heart Association, the

American Cancer Society,

the National Kidney

Foundation or the Brain

Trauma Foundation.