Jeannette Marie Hiett (Tait)

Jeannette Marie Hiett passed away on Monday, Nov. 9, 2015, in Missoula.

Jeannette was born on May 18, 1920, in Whitehall to George W. Tait and Gertrude T. Borgrink. After graduating from Whitehall High School, Jean attended Montana State College in Bozeman and graduated with a bachelor of science in home economics. She became a dietician and served her apprenticeship at Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago, Illinois.

Jean was part of the greatest generation, joining the Army during World War II and then serving at the First Army Dietician Training Base in Great Falls. After her stint with the military, she traveled to the Hawaiian Islands, where she was employed for one and one-half years with the Public Health Nutrition Program on the island of Kauai. After returning to Montana, she taught high school in Billings and Whitehall, and married Earl Hiett. They were divorced in 1970.

During the Korean War, when her husband was recalled to the armed forces and was sent to West Germany, Jean taught at the U.S. Armed Forces Institute, helping military men trying to obtain a high school diploma. Upon return to the states, she found work as a dietician at the old Northern Pacific Hospital for four years. In 1957, she went to work as Missoula County extension economist, a job from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. She was active in the community for many years and enjoyed the work because of the variety of people she met and the multitude of subjects that she dealt with. Some of her responsibilities were helping homemakers, judging fairs, and supervising 4-H clubs. The programs that she helped create still benefit the community to this day, such as helping to create programs at the Missoula Vocation Tech Center to train people to assist the elderly in their homes.

Jean took a brief sabbatical from being an extension agent and taught nutrition at the University of Montana, where students and faculty enjoyed her sharp wit and sense of humor. She returned to extension work and retired from the Missoula County Extension Service in 1983. She devoted herself to her hobbies, which included reading, doing crosswords, and entering contests, a pursuit at which she excelled, winning first prize in several national competitions.

She is survived by her two daughters, Leslie Hiett of Missoula and Ellen Irion of Duvall, Washington, and her grandchildren, Justin Hiett, of Missoula, Julia Irion-Boyce and Alexis Taladay, of Seattle; one great-grandchild, Giavana Irion, and her sisters, Nancy Tait Jones of Butte and Suzanne McKay of Santa Barbara, California.


Read Jeannette Hiett's Obituary and Guestbook on www.missoulafuneralhomes.com.