{"id":32842,"date":"2026-03-22T19:41:28","date_gmt":"2026-03-23T01:41:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/?post_type=case&#038;p=32842"},"modified":"2026-03-26T11:46:50","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T17:46:50","slug":"mark-albert-hilyard-age-58-of-great-falls-formerly-of-miles-city-and-plentywood","status":"publish","type":"case","link":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/obituaries\/mark-albert-hilyard-age-58-of-great-falls-formerly-of-miles-city-and-plentywood\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Albert Hilyard, age 58, of Great Falls formerly of Miles City and Plentywood"},"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","class_list":{"0":"post-32842","1":"case","2":"type-case","3":"status-publish","5":"entry","6":"has-post-thumbnail"},"acf":[],"fields":{"first_name":"Mark","middle_name":"Albert","last_name":"Hilyard","date_born":"02\/26\/1968","date_died":"03\/21\/2026","age":"58","city":"Great Falls","state":"Montana","full_obituary_text":"<div style=\"padding:56.25% 0 0 0;position:relative;\"><iframe src=\"https:\/\/vimeo.com\/event\/5828381\/embed\/interaction\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture; encrypted-media; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>Mark Albert Hilyard passed away peacefully at home on March 21, 2026, surrounded by his loving family after a courageous twelve-year battle with Stage 4 Melanoma.<\/p>\n<p>Mark was born February 26, 1968, at the Sheridan Memorial Hospital to Charles Harold \u201cBud\u201d and Betty Hilyard of Plentywood. Betty invited his two sisters to choose his name \u2014 and they both liked the name \u201cMark,\u201d inspired by the young boy in the beloved Gentle Ben television series.<\/p>\n<p>An active and spirited boy, Mark was a member of the Boy Scouts and played football in high school, always throwing himself wholeheartedly into everything he did. His deep admiration for his maternal grandfather who served as a Sheriff inspired him to pursue a degree in criminal justice from the Minot State University leading to over 30 years in the State of Montana Law Enforcement.<\/p>\n<p>Mark met the love of his life, Mary Ann Harmon, and together they built a beautiful life and family. He was an incredibly proud father to their two children, Gage and Hayden.<\/p>\n<p>Mark had a deep passion for the outdoors, and fly fishing was among his greatest joys. He took pride in tying his own flies and teaching his two children how to tie flies. Many of those cherished adventures were shared alongside his children and his brother, Kurt.<\/p>\n<p>Another passion was spending time at the family cabin in Monarch, MT it brought a sense of peace to him. He loved feeding his flock of turkeys and deer. As for recreation, he and his family rode ATVs on the surrounding mountains by their cabin. Riding his motorcycle with the Montana Vigilantes, a Masonic motorcycle club created meaningful friendships for Mark.<\/p>\n<p>In 2017, Mark appeared in an episode of NBC\u2019s Dateline involving a murder investigation. He was later invited to share his expertise as one of the homicide detectives featured on the Netflix series: I Am a Killer.<\/p>\n<p>Mark was a steadfast presence to all who knew him \u2014 a true rock in the office, dependable and calm under pressure.\u00a0 His close friendships were a cherished part of his life, and his infectious sense of humor brought laughter to every room he walked into.<\/p>\n<p>Mark is survived by his wife of 29 years, Mary Ann; his son, Gage Hilyard of Tokyo, Japan; his daughter, Hayden (Korbin) Walling of Kuna, Idaho; his brother, Kurt (Kathy) Hilyard of Port Orchard, Washington; his sisters, Susan (Floyd) Wanke of Great Falls, Montana, and Cyndi (Marcus) Vitone of Montara, California; and extended family and friends who will miss him dearly.<\/p>\n<p>He was preceded in death by his parents, Charles \u201cBud\u201d and Betty Hilyard of Plentywood, Montana.<\/p>\n<p>This coming Thursday, March 26th, a Family hosted visitation will be held between 6 to 8 pm at the Scottish Rite Center in 1304 13th St. S. in Great Falls, MT. The funeral service will be held at the Scottish Rite Center as well on March 27th at 2 pm. Burial with military honors will follow at the Highland Cemetery.<\/p>\n<p>In-lieu of flowers, donations can be mailed or dropped off to the Great Falls Probation and Parole Office &#8211; 219 5th St. So. Ste. A, Great Falls, MT. 59405.\u00a0 Please make checks payable to: Benevolent Fund<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","photo":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Mark-Hilyard.jpg","youtube_video_url":"","event_title1":"Family Receiving Friends","event_date1":"2026-03-26","start_time1":"6:00 p.m.","end_time1":"8:00 p.m.","location1":"Scottish Rite Center","address1":"1304 13th Street South","city1":"Great Falls","state1":"Montana","zipcode1":"59405","event_title2":"Celebration of His Life","event_date2":"2026-03-27","start_time2":"2:00 p.m.","end_time2":"","location2":"Scottish Rite Center","address2":"1304 13th Street South","city2":"Great Falls","state2":"Montana","zipcode2":"59405","service_status":"public","event_title3":"Burial with Military Honors","event_date3":"2026-03-27","start_time3":"Immediately following his Celebration of Life","end_time3":"","location3":"Highland Cemetery","address3":"2010 33rd Avenue South","city3":"Great Falls","state3":"Montana","zipcode3":"59405","event_title4":"Funeral Reception","event_date4":"2026-03-27","start_time4":"Immediately following the burial","end_time4":"","location4":"Scottish Rite Center","address4":"1304 13th Street South","city4":"Great Falls","state4":"Montana","zipcode4":"59405","event_title5":"","event_date5":"","start_time5":"","end_time5":"","location5":"","address5":"","city5":"","state5":"","zipcode5":"","event_title6":"","event_date":"","start_time6":"","end_time6":"","location6":"","address6":"","city6":"","state6":"","zipcode6":"","event_title7":"","event_date7":"","start_time7":"","end_time7":"","location7":"","address7":"","city7":"","state7":"","zipcode7":"","event_title8":"","event_date8":"","start_time8":"","end_time8":"","location8":"","address8":"","city8":"","state8":"","zipcode8":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/case\/32842","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/case"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/case"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32842"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32842"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}