By HDN Staff
BARBARA ANN SCHAEFER
CHESTER Barbara Ann "Tillie" Schaefer, 76, died Friday,
Feb. 23, 2001 at a Chester hospital of cancer.
Vigil prayers were Sunday evening at St. Mary's Catholic
Church in Chester. Funeral Mass was 11 a.m. today at the
church. Burial was to follow at the Chester Cemetery.
Schaefer and her twin sister, Marie, were born Sept. 25,
1924 in Goldstone to Adam and Kathrina (Beck) Mangold. She
received her education at Inverness and graduated from
Inverness High School in 1942.
In the years that followed, Schaefer worked at Sanvik's
Store in Rudyard and as a clerk in a Cut Bank business.
She married Melvin L. Schaefer on Jan. 6, 1945 in
Inverness. They lived on the Schaefer farm 18 miles north of
Chester. They took over the farming operation n 1948, when
his parents moved to the Flathead Valley. They lived and
worked on the farm until retiring to Chester in 1970.
He died in 1974 and she remained in Chester and active in
the community.
Schaefer was a longtime member of Sacred Heart Catholic
Church in Inverness. She was baptized, confirmed and married
there. Upon her move to Chester, she became active in St.
Mary's Catholic Church. She was a member of the Altar
Society, liturgical committee and Bible study groups. She
also belonged to the Bears Den Homemakers' Club and the
Hi-Line bowling leagues in Chester and Rudyard.
Schaefer's hobbies included gardening, photography, sewing
and calligraphy. She collected bells, snow globes and
antique Christmas ornaments. She enjoyed cooking and baking.
Schaefer played trumpet in her high school band and
continued her love of music through the years. She also kept
up on current events through the newspaper and 5 o'clock
news.
She enjoyed family trips to the Flathead to help with the
cherry harvest, caring for the sheep and cutting Christmas
trees.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Melvin L.
Schaefer; her parents; sisters, Rosie, Helen and Marie;
brothers, Frank, Andrew, Walter, Leon, Mike, Nick, Joe,
George and Anton.
Survivors include her children, Roger Schaefer of Omaha,
Neb., Don Schaefer of Chester and Elayne Wickum of Chester;
three sisters-in-law, Catherine Mangold of Havre, Molly
Mangold of Billings and Maxine Ward of Chester;
brothers-in-law, Chuck Cross of Rudyard and Aden Ward of
Chester; four grandchildren; two great-grandchildren;
numerous nieces, nephews and god-children.
Memorials may be given to the Gift of Life in Great Falls,
the Hi-Line Health Foundation in Chester or a donor's
choice.
Arrangements are b
