BILLINGS — Twenty-four-year-old Noah Dinger died in an accident at the Stillwater Mine near Nye on Monday, November 13, 2023. Noah was bolting up wire panels to prevent rocks from falling when he was hit by rotating machinery.
He leaves behind his wife Kaylei and two young children. He touched many lives in his home state of Idaho and in Montana.
His wife described as a kind and loving father, one who will be dearly missed.
“I just keep saying it doesn’t feel real. This can’t be, this can’t be it. So, I’m not really sure what to say. He loved everybody though,” Kaylei Dinger said from her home in Idaho over Zoom on Tuesday morning.
Noah and Kaylei started as neighbors, became high school sweethearts, and eventually married.
“I have no tears left to cry at this point. But they do come,” Dinger said.
Dinger, 23 years old, describes Noah as the love of her life.
"I think that’s what really drew me to him ‘because he was just like this light in the world, and it was like, it’s just what it was,” said Dinger.
The Post Falls, Idaho, couple had only been married for a year when Kaylei received the news of Noah’s death Monday at the mine, which is owned by Sibanye Stillwater Mining Co.
“Right now, my eyes just hurt. I didn’t cry with Noah very much. He was just like, he was my comfort person, and now I don’t have any, I don’t have that,” Dinger said.
Noah was a loving father, leaving behind two sons, three-year-old Rylan and one-year-old Maddox.
“And they look so much like their daddy. Our boys looked up to him more than anything in the world. And he was so good, I’ve never seen such a good daddy and our boys are just like him,” said Dinger.
“He was super excited because Rylan, our older son, was supposed to start baseball this spring. And so they were going to do that together. We bought all the stuff for it. So it was going to be, like, their thing,” Dinger said.
Kaylei said her husband always knew he wanted to be a miner. His grandfather and father were miners as well - his father was actually working next to him when Noah died.
“He enjoyed work, and that’s, like, really hard to find. It was a passion of his. He loved mining and so that really sucks that happened,” said Dinger.
Despite his death, Kaylei knows Noah is still that positive ray of light, a guardian angel for her and their sons.
“He would just want everyone to, I don’t know, try and be happy the best that they can. Make the best out of a bad situation. It’s kind of what he always did,” Dinger said.
You can support the Dinger family by visiting their GoFundMe page or Meal Train page.
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