Nicholas “Nick” Ryan Visser
Nicholas “Nick” Ryan Visser was born March 15, 1983, to Keith and Peggy (Hillman) Visser and an enormous extended family. In less than eight years, he was joined by five siblings: Becky, Aaron, Kirk, Paul and Garrett. To say their Billings home was a busy, noisy place would be a gross understatement. While in elementary school, he met his best buddy, Mackay Mathiason, who is now his fifth brother. He spent most of his “growing up years” in Shepherd – living life as a typical country kid. He graduated from Shepherd High School in 2001.
Nicholas’s father developed cancer in 1994, and his family started to attend a camp during the summer for Montana families dealing with a cancer diagnosis, first as camp attendees, and later as camp volunteers. It was during one of those summer camps that Nick met his future wife, Kendra Payne. He called meeting her “love at first sight.” As it turns out, he was right; it really was love. They married November 29, 2003. They moved to Kendra’s hometown in California the morning after their wedding. There they added their first child to the family- Kloe in 2005. After a year and a half, they returned home to Montana. Fast forward a few years to 2008, where they welcomed their son, Benjamin, while they were living in Three Forks and Nick worked for KG Ranch. In 2011, he and Kendra moved back to Shepherd where he worked for Strecker Farms for seven years. They packed their little farmhouse to capacity when Allison (2011), Parker (2016), and Charlotte (2018) were born, and that little house was the center of fun – Friday nights with the family, countless birthday parties, river bonfires in the fall, and, of course, the annual goose hunting event.
Eventually, it was time to change the direction for their family, and they moved into their Height’s home where Nick first worked for Knife River, and then finally to his Hanser’s home as a Heavy Recovery/Tow Truck Operator. To say he enjoyed towing and recovery would be an understatement. He absolutely loved the responsibility, the challenges, the friendships, and the work itself.
Nick loved hunting, fishing, brewing, leather and wood working, arm wrestling, any kind of mechanics, playing guitar, and most importantly riding his 1977 Ironhead and 1994 Softail with his wife and children. Although he definitely didn’t look the stereotypical “churchy” type, he had a deep faith in the Lord.
Our beloved son, husband, father, brother, cousin, nephew and friend was tragically taken from us the morning of October 25, 2020. Although his death was a surprise to us, we believe in the sovereignty of God, and know God knew the exact time and date he would be coming home. We are certain his dad was at the front of the line to welcome him.
Nicholas was preceded in death by his grandparents, Bud and Dolly Hillman, Pearl Visser, and his father, Keith Visser.
He is survived by his grandfather, Elmer Visser; mother and stepfather, Kim and Peggy Mathiason; his wife, Kendra and his children, Kloe, Benjamin, Allison, Parker and Charlotte; his siblings, Rebecca (Mike) Klang, Aaron (Rachel), Kirk (Aubrie), Paul (Erica), Garrett (Sydne), Mackay (Leslie) Mathiason, and Matthew (Lisa) Mathiason; as well as numerous nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles, cousins, Hanser’s coworkers, and friends.
His funeral services will be held: Friday, November 6 at 11:00 am at Harvest Church in Billings with a live link provided on the day of on the families’ Facebook pages and then Saturday, November 7 at 1:00 pm at Bethel Christian Reformed Church in Churchill, MT. Unfortunately, because of the present circumstances, we are unable to have a reception after either service. However, please look for information about a BIG celebration for him later this coming summer. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Bikers Against Bullies.
