Cody Yeager

Cody Yeager, 62, the manager and part-owner of North Montana Feeders, died of natural causes in the comfort of his home in Choteau on Oct. 23, 2023. Early that morning came the end of the fall run, and little did we suspect, the end of Cody's time among us.

Cody was born on May 4, 1961, to Harold and Darlene (Boadle) Yeager of Choteau. He was soon followed by a younger brother, Lane, and a sister, Nikki who joined him in working alongside their parents on the family ranch west of Choteau. There he helped tend to the cows, fix fences, farm dirt and ride horses.

He attended Choteau High School where he joined nearly every sport and extracurricular, he could. "He was smart," his brother Lane says, "anything to get out of milking cows." Cody played football and basketball, competed in rodeos and horse shows, participated in FFA, and was involved in many other activities and extracurriculars.

His effort in these commitments was present, no matter how many he had. If Cody was going to do something, he was going to do it with effort and he was going to do it right. He received several Quarter Horse Association awards while traveling to shows with his grandparents, Harry and Helen Yeager. His rodeo career was also successful, with a National High School Finals qualification in the cutting horse events, a state qualification in the calf roping and a state reserve champion title in the steer wrestling.

Eventually, rodeo landed Cody at the East Helena rodeo where he met Clella Johnson at the bar after the performance and became infatuated with her. Clella's mother told her she could never meet a nice guy at the bar, and after Cody's first few phone calls to their house, and asking for her by the wrong name, the validity of that comment was questioned. However, after a year, they both graduated from high school and decided to cut to the good part and get hitched. They were married on May 30, 1981.

Before he fell in love with Clella, Cody's first love was agriculture. He was born into it and it was born into him. After high school, he attended a vocational-technical program in Helena, where he received his certificate in diesel mechanics. He came back to Choteau with Clella, and together, they raised their son Calon and daughter Chelsee. Cody took them across the state for stock shows, was in the stands at their games and taught them everything he could about the western way of life.

His first journey into the feedlot business took him to the Sun River Valley where he owned and managed a feedlot for more than 10 years. In 2013, he came back to Choteau to be part owner and manager of North Montana Feeders until his death. Those last 10 years allowed him the chance to live every cowboy's dream of having both his children come back to work alongside him and share in his passions and life's work.

The real blessing in this move was the opportunity it presented him to continue sharing his love and passion for agriculture with his grandchildren. For anyone who knew Cody even slightly, it is an undeniable truth that his grandchildren were the most important thing in his life. If being a grandpa were an Olympic sport, Cody would be its Michael Phelps. He made every game he could, attended every function he was allowed to, and supported them in every way he could think of.

Being a dad and grandpa wasn't the only thing that Cody excelled at. He was everything you could ask for in a neighbor, a friend, an uncle, a brother, a son and a boss. Nikki said it best, "He was just always there to help out."

Cody will be missed dearly but his impact on the people and the community that he loved so dearly will carry long past his death.

He is survived by his father, Harold Yeager of Choteau; his wife, Clella of Choteau; their children, Calon (Kande) Yeager of Fairfield and Chelsee (Matt DeBruycker) Yeager of Choteau; his grandchildren; Kyona, Cyler, Justyce, Rusch, and Casen; his brother, Lane (Bev) Yeager of Choteau; his sister, Nikki (Mike) Ley of Choteau; and several nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his mother, Darlene.

A memorial service will be Monday, Nov. 6, at 4 p.m. at the Stage Stop Inn in Choteau. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to an account in his memory. Please make checks payable to the Cody Yeager Memorial. Donations can be mailed to First Bank of Montana, P.O. Box 858, Choteau MT 59422 or any Glacier Bank location.