Willard Tieszen, 90, died January 8, 2017, at St. John’s Lutheran Home in Billings. He was born on July 22, 1926, in Lustre, Montana, 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 (Larry) Tanglen, Gibsonia, Pennsylvania; Lowell (Nita) Tieszen, Willmar, Minnesota; and Audrey (Don) Ruth, Lakewood, Colorado. He is also survived by 10 grandchildren; eight great-grandchildren; brothers Clarence Tieszen, Miles City, and LeVern Tieszen, Caldwell, Idaho; sisters Laura Friesen, North Newton, Kansas, and Adaline Crabtree, Bremerton, Washington; 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 (Grettel) Von Laven, Madison, Alabama; Julie (Jim) Canan, Beaverton, Oregon; John (Linda) Von Laven, Ilwaco, Washington; and Lisa Von Laven, Billings.
Clayton Stevenson Memorial Chapel, Wolf Point, has charge of arrangements. There will be a memorial service Friday, January 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, January 20, at 11 a.m. at the Lustre Mennonite Brethren Church, with viewing at 10 a.m. at the church.
Memorials are suggested to the St. John’s Lutheran Missions Foundation or charity of choice.