Jean Louise McClellan Hintz went to be with her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to the place He had prepared for her in heaven on April 28th, 2021. She was born in Wolf Point on February 17, 1928. The eldest child of V.O. and Luva McClellan, Jean was lovingly raised on her parents farm near Vida, Montana. She attended Little Creek school near Vida for her elementary years, Circle High School in Circle Montana, and 1 year of college at Northern in Havre Montana.
Jean married her childhood sweetheart Leland Hintz of Vida in 1948. Together they continued the farming legacy set forth by their parents, and began raising crops as well as six children and making a happy home. Jean loved her home and the farm that she and Leland tended together. Her children were the center of her life and she made each one feel loved and secure. Summers on the Hintz farm often involved dawn to past dark work. For Jean that included cooking meals for her family, but also hired hands as well as neighbors who were helping with harvest or whatever work was being done at the time. She also excelled at sewing and gardening and all of the other skills required of a farm wife and mother. (Butchering chickens, warming newborn baby calves in the kitchen, canning many quarts of garden produce and jelly, doctoring cuts and scrapes, and the occasional ill child to name just a few.)
Quiet and unassuming, Jean never had an unkind word for anyone and always was able to see the positives in all people. She was content and cheerful even after having to move from her beloved home into the nursing home in 2015 at age 87. She was beauty and grace and kindness and made the world a better place.
Jean was a pianist and played piano regularly for church services, weddings and other gatherings. She loved to play for her own enjoyment at home and the sound of her playing is a memory all of her children and some of her grand children and great grand children will treasure. Even after dementia had stolen many of her memories, she still could play piano at age 91.
She was an attentive, proud and doting grandmother to 16 grandchildren. Jean had a special bond with her granddaughter Lauren. Together they spent many hours in deep conversation of years gone by, present and future events. She also had a closeness with Rie Nakamura who was like a granddaughter to her.
Jean’s love for the Lord Jesus Christ permeated every aspect of her life. She established a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ as a child and continued serving God through daily Bible reading, prayer and regularly attending church and Bible studies. Because she knew the importance of having this relationship with God she encouraged everyone she knew to accept Christ as their Savior and follow Him. Now Jean is experiencing life in heaven, has come face to face with her Savior and is having a happy reunion with loved ones gone on before and so much more we can’t even imagine.
“The one who believes in Me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in Me will never die.” (John 11:25-26).
Jean is predeceased by her husband Leland, her parents, her younger sister Lydia Underwood and her younger brothers Samuel McClellan and Albert “Buck” McClellan. She is survived by her sons Brent (Lorene), Buzz (Leslie), Ross (Laurel), Jeff (Cathy), and Roger (Sandie) and by a daughter LeeAnn (Richard) as well as 16 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.
Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His faithful servants. (Psalm 116:15)
A graveside service will be held at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, May 4, 2021 at the Vida Cemetery. A memorial service will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, May 4, 2021 at the Gospel Fellowship Church in Wolf Point. Clayton Stevenson Memorial Chapel has been entrusted with the arrangements and condolences for the family can be left by using the form below.