Clear, 26° F
(May 4, 2005)
Elizabeth Ann Schiltz of Powell died early Wednesday, May 4 in a Billings, Mont., hospice house. She was 79.
Graveside services will be at 10 a.m. Monday, May 9 at Crown Hill Cemetery, followed by a memorial service at 11 a.m. at First Baptist Church.
She was born April 17, 1916, in Bangor, Wisc., the daughter of Henry and Hedwig (Fuchs) Thicke. Following high school graduation and business school, Elizabeth Ann was employed in LaCrosse, Wisc., with the Agricultural Adjustment Agency. In 1944, she went to electronics radio and television school in St. Paul, Minn., along with some other young women from Wisconsin and Minnesota.
In February, 1945, she was accepted as a radio operator by the U.S. State Department's Office of War Information in their international broadcasting division in New York City. After the war, she was secretary to the office manager of Sonneborn Oil Company in New York City.
In June of 1949, she returned to LaCrosse, Wisc., and worked as a secretary in a claims office for Hartford Insurance. She married Vincent H. Schiltz on Oct. 22, 1949, in Bangor, Wisc., and they came to Powell on their honeymoon to choose their Heart Mountain homestead on the Shoshone Reclamation Project.
Her New York City style never left her. She met the challenges of death as those of life, with grace and dignity, always having faith and trust in the Lord. With strength and courage, love and joy, she has given freely to her family and community. Such gifts are beyond measure and cannot be lost.
Survivors include her children and their spouses, Teresa and John R. Lawson of Great Falls, Mont., Quentin and Georgia Schiltz of Atlantic, Iowa, Juliane and Gregory Koening of Rapid City, S.D., and Ted Schiltz of Casper; a sister, Lois Best of New Berlin, Wisc.; a brother, Henry A. Thicke and his wife Ann of Bangor, Wisc.; sister-in-law Kathy Thicke of Menominee Falls, Wisc.; and 15 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
Preceding her in death were her husband, Vincent; her parents; and a brother, Ramon.
For those who wish, memorial contributions may be made to Horizon Hospice House, 1019 Neptune Bldv., Billings, MT 549105.
