Letty Harrington Schiweck

Letty Harrington Schiweck, 86, of Missoula, passed away Thursday, Jan. 22, 2015, at St. Patrick Hospital after an acute stroke on Jan. 15.

She was born Letty Mae Harrington in 1928 on an island in the Big Sioux River in South Dakota near Westfield, Iowa. Her parents were Charles Vessey Harrington and Vera Mae Harrington (nee Wilcox). Letty attended the first several grades in school in Westfield.

In 1934, the family moved to Ashuelot, north of Fort Shaw. In 1936, they moved to the Ninemile Valley, west of Missoula. In 1948, the family bought a ranch in the valley, on which the family is still raising cattle. Letty attended grade school and high school in Alberton. After graduating from Alberton High School in 1945, she went to Spokane, and among other jobs, worked as a cashier at the J.J. Newberry store.

In 1952, she met Max Schiweck, a radio operator for a U.S. Air Force B-36 flight crew. They wed the following year. The couple later moved to Pasadena, California, and Seattle, where Letty worked as a bank teller. Their daughter Karen was born in 1958. In 1959, they moved to Missoula, and in 1960 their son Paul was born.

Letty went back to work and eventually became a key punch supervisor and a documents clerk for the U.S. Forest Service. She worked there for approximately 30 years and retired in 1993.

Letty was known as a gentle and kind person who faced life's challenges with acceptance, perseverance and quiet determination. She enjoyed being with her extended family at many gatherings at the ranch, at her sister Doris' house, at Flathead Lake and at the Orchard Homes Country Life Club.

Survivors include her brother, Don Harrington of Ninemile; sister, Ruth Froehlich of Missoula; daughter, Karen Atkison and her husband Chip of Denver; son, Paul and wife Juliana of Lewiston, Idaho; grandson, Vaughn Schiweck of Anchorage, Alaska; granddaughter, Heidi Schiweck of Los Angeles; and many nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her husband, Max Schiweck; brother, Charles Harrington; sister, Doris Stickney; brother, Robert Harrington; and sister, Ardith Steinberg.

A memorial service will be held at 4 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 29, at Garden City Funeral home. A reception will follow.
Read Letty Schiweck's Obituary and Guestbook on www.missoulafuneralhomes.com.