Willard Tieszen

Willard Tieszen, 90, died Sunday, Jan. 8, 2017, at St. John's Lutheran Home in Billings, Mont.

There was a memorial service Friday, Jan. 13, at 2 p.m., at the Ocee Johnson Chapel, Chapel Court, St. John's Lutheran Home, Billings. Funeral service and burial will be Friday, Jan. 20, at 11 a.m. at the Lustre Mennonite Brethren Church, with viewing at 10 a.m. at the church.

He was born on July 22, 1926, in Lustre, Mont., the son of Marie (Janzen) Tieszen and Jacob P. Tieszen.

He attended one-room schools through eighth grade and then Lustre Bible School. As a young man, he had jobs at the Great Falls smelter and harvesting potatoes in Idaho. He traveled to Poland after World War II on a shipload of horses sent by the "Seagoing Cowboys" program to aid in the European reconstruction effort. In 1951, he married Linda Toews in Lustre, and they farmed and ranched in the Lustre community on land his parents homesteaded. They had four children. In 1964, Linda died from cancer, and Willard retired to Billings in 1970. In 1973, he married Joyce (Jody) Makeever Von Laven in Billings; they were married for 31 years.

He was preceded in death by his parents; his wife, Linda (Toews) Tieszen in 1964; his youngest daughter, Patricia in 1969; and his sister, Clara (Tieszen) Toews in 1988. He is survived by three children: Delores Tanglen and her husband, Larry, of Gibsonia, Pa; Lowell Tieszen and his wife, Nita, of Willmar, Minn.; and Audrey Ruth and her husband, Don, of Lakewood, Colo. He is also survived by 10 grandchildren; eight great-grandchildren; three brothers, Clarence Tieszen of Miles City, and LeVern Tieszen of Caldwell, Idaho; two sisters, Laura Friesen of North Newton, Kan., and Adaline Crabtree of Bremerton, Wash.; and many nieces and nephews.

He was an important part of the Von Laven children's lives for many years and they also survive: Scott Von Laven and his wife, Grettel, of Madison, Ala.; Julie Canan and her husband, Jim, of Beaverton, Ore.; John Von Laven and his wife, Linda, of Ilwaco, Wash.; and Lisa Von Laven of Billings.

Clayton Stevenson Memorial Chapel, Wolf Point, has charge of arrangements. Memorials are suggested to the St. John's Lutheran Missions Foundation or charity of choice.