Heidi Stieg

Visitation: Sunday with the family to receive friends from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm at Stevenson & Sons Funeral Home in Miles City.

Funeral services: Monday, September 20, 2010 at 11:00 am at the First Lutheran Church in Miles City.

Interment: will follow at a later date in Ekalaka, MT

I was born February 10, 1966 in Miles City to Owen and Darlene (Ferrel) Stieg. I was given the gifts of an older sister, Kim and then a younger brother, Josh, hence making me the quintessential middle child. I attended Ekalaka Grade School K-8 and was part of the first class to attend all four years at the brand new high school graduating in 1984 with a close group of 24 young people.

From there it was onto Montana State University in Bozeman acquiring a Bachelor of Science with an emphasis in Community Health in 1989. While there I worked part time for the Agricultural and Technology Education Department and joined Delta Gamma, a national Panhellenic Fraternity. In addition, some great memories from MSU times include almost always having a good ol local guy to dance with on a Saturday night. Often that was a breath snatching jitterbug or a leg-lifting polka with buddy and CCHS classmate Kent Williams, saving me from being a wallflower. After graduating from MSU it was quickly onto the College of St. Catherine in St. Paul, Minnesota to obtain my Professional Certification in Occupation Therapy, graduating in December of 1991.

Thomas Speelmon and I made a dash from Montana to the Deep South Dothan, Alabama to begin our post-college careers. Luckily, Tom had sisters (from that large family) strategically placed across the country allowing a place to stay on our entire trip there. On May 7, 1992 Tom and I each got off work early to elope at the Coffee County Courthouse in Enterprise, Alabama, a few months later having our wedding blessed in small Catholic and Lutheran services with family in attendance.

In true Army fashion, it was soon a move in 1993 to Ft. Bliss, El Paso, Texas, with me and Army gear in tow. In 1995 I began work as a traveling occupational therapist due to Toms impending transfer overseas. After all, it was a choice between the jungle or Dillon, Montana (as it turned out, Tom spent a good deal of that time on a border peace-keeping mission and communication was notably limited anyway).

In January 1996 I accepted a permanent occupational therapy position in Cody, Wyoming with Tom and I purchasing our first home there. I left that position to undertake the initiation and development of a new therapy practice for a group of orthopedic surgeons in January of 1998. Our daughter, Adele (1998) and our son, Kon (2000) were both born there. Toms leaving the military in 1998 allowed us the opportunity for a stay-at-home parent while I continued to work. I have been the envy of many a female co-worker, having a spouse who can patch a pair of pants just as well as he can fix the toilet and overhaul the car.

In 2001 it was back to southeastern Montana so that Tom and I could trade off a little on the job titles, living first in Baker and then in Miles City where we flipped to and from Tom staying home to me.

On September 16, 2010 at the Holy Rosary Hospital under Hospice Care in Miles City at the age of 44, Heidi left us to continue on her journey. She is now free to be the angel she was always intended to be. Heidi was always more concerned with others then herself during her long illness. She frequently told her children, Adele and Kon, There are a lot of people who are worse off then I am.

Heidi is survived by her husband Tom and children Adele and Kon Speelmon of Miles City, her parents Owen and Darlene Stieg of Ekalaka, her sister Kim (Blake) Anderson of Billings, her brothers Mark (Franchesca) Stieg of Highland Place, CO. and Josh (Nikki) Stieg of Baker and her Grandmother Florence Wiseman of Baker, MT.

Life is not about the destination, it's about the journey

Should friends desire, memorials may be made to First Lutheran Church, 512 Cale, Miles City, MT, or the Miles City Public Library, 1 South Tenth ST, Miles City, MT. Stevenson & Sons Funeral Home of Miles City has been entrusted with the arrangements.