Obituary: Stella Marie (Pankratz) Breitmeier

Stella Marie (Pankratz) Breitmeier went home to be with her Lord March 26, 2017, at the Sweet Memorial Nursing Home in Chinook, Montana with family and friends holding her hands and singing her favorite hymns.

A celebration of her life will be held at the Harlem United Methodist Church in Harlem, Montana, at 11 a..m. March 31, 2017, with Pastor Jack Mattingly officiating. Burial will be at the Harlem Cemetery.

Stella Marie was born on the farm near Vida, Montana, to Elizabeth Schock and Robert Pankratz. Stella graduated from Harlem High School in 1946. In 1948, she married the love of her life, Rudolph G. Breitmeier and lived on the family homestead. One of Stellas missions in life, because of her son Fred who had Down Syndrome, was to develop a new statewide program of community service for developmentally disabled adults. She was the co-editor of a centennial book about East Blaine County titled "Thunderstorms and Tumbleweeds," which is now in the Montana Memories Project and made available digitally.

Stella was a faithful member of the Harlem United Methodist Church and the Germans from Russia Heritage Society.

Stella was preceded in death by her husband, Rudy; her son, Fred; her parents, Robert and Elizabeth; five brothers; and four sisters.

She is survived by her daughter, Ede, who raises registered Angus on the family homestead southwest of Harlem; sister-in-law, Sally Ann Pankratz; and numerous nieces and nephews.