Terry Hoyt, 77 of Lac du Flambeau passed away on March 13, 2023. Born Robert Terry Hoyt to Lillian Verna and Robert E. Hoyt in Joliet, Ill. on March 27, 1945. Terry attended undergraduate college at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. It was here he met his first wife Barbara Dickinson and Terry’s son, Spenser, was born. Terry continued his education at law school at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and graduated in the class of 1972.
Terry and family moved to Lac du Flambeau in 1972, where he set up the new state sponsored Indian Legal Service Office, traveling all over northern Wisconsin serving a number of tribal nations. He continued to practice law in various capacities including the lead public defender for Oneida and Vilas counties, Vilas County district attorney, and his own private practice. Most of his legal practice consisted of various legal positions for the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians.
After Terry and Barbara divorced, he came into his stepchildren’s lives in 1975 when he met and later married their mother Corrine “Terri” Hoyt and Keith, Kevin, and Karen Norris became part of his family. Terry and Terri were proud parents and continued this trend by raising their granddaughters Kayla and Kimberly Norris. Terry and Terri also opened their home to exchange students from around the world and served as a host family for the Rotary International Youth Exchange Program. Terry was also a father figure to many of his children’s and grandchildren’s friends.
Terry was very active in his community and had a positive impact that affected many people. He was one of the founding members of the Northwoods Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in 1989. He enjoyed traveling all over the United States and overseas, visiting friends and family in Turkey, Brazil, and Spain, just to name a few destinations. Terry was a lifelong music enthusiast and worked as a music promotor as a young man. He was open to all genres of music and attended all sorts of concerts. He loved his friends and family and frequently hosted meals and parties at his home, which was filled with food, laughter, music, and lively discussions.
Terry is survived by his children, Keith Norris, Kevin Norris, Spenser Hoyt, and Karen Bittner; his grandchildren Kayla (Nathaniel) Wilson, Kimberly Norris, Logan Bittner, Caden Bittner, and Jarek Bittner; and his great-grandchildren Delilah Wilson and Liam Wilson. He is also survived by his brother Ron Hoyt, and his wife Carol Hoyt. Terry was predeceased by his wife, Corrine Hoyt, and his parents, Verna and Robert Hoyt.
There will be a memorial service on June 3, at 10 a.m. at the Northwoods Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Woodruff, followed by a reception 3 to 9 p.m. at the Lake of the Torches Casino in Lac du Flambeau. In lieu of flowers the family requests donations be made to the Southern Poverty Law Center, an organization he felt strongly about.