Deanna Royle Hedegaard, 84, Mandan, ND (formerly of Sidney, MT)

Funeral Services were Saturday, July 27, 2024 at 2 p.m. at the Sidney Lutheran Brethren Church, Sidney, MT, with Pastor Ben Miller officiating. Deanna will be laid to rest in the Sidney Cemetery, Sidney, MT. Coffee and desserts will follow the burial back at the church. Fulkerson Stevenson Funeral Home, Sidney, MT, is assisting the family. Remembrances, condolences, and pictures may be shared with the family at http://www.fulkersons.com.

Deanna Royle Hedegaard, 84, Mandan, ND, was welcomed in the arms of Jesus on Friday, July 19, 2024.

Deanna Childs Hedegaard was born in Sidney, MT, on June 21, 1940, the first day of summer. Her mother would tell her "It was the longest day of her life." Deanna Royle was born to Eylene (Lynd) Childs and Donald Robert Childs. They lived in Lambert for a time before moving to Wisconsin and then on to Chicago a few months later. When Deanna was 3 years old her parents divorced, and she moved with her mother back to Lambert to live with her grandparents, Roy and Essie Lynd. Her mother soon married Virgil Bahls and they eventually went to live on his family farm-ranch in the Three Buttes community, a few miles from Lambert. When Deanna was 4 ½ years old, her mother put her on the train at Glendive and she rode back to Wisconsin to live with her dad, Don and his parents Harrison and Eliza Childs, Steuben, Wi. She was to make that train trip many times as she grew up. She grew up sometimes living in Chicago and Iowa, wherever her dad was at. Things didn't work out so well once her dad got remarried, so after a few more years of going back and forth, she decided it would be easier for all if she just stayed in Montana and so she started high school in Sidney.

She married when she was 16, but it was not a good decision. By the time she was 22 she had 5 children. She was soon divorced and on her own. Life had not been easy up to this point until she met Bill Hedegaard, a young construction worker from Savage, MT. They eventually married and had 2 sons. Being a construction worker meant traveling from one job to another. Bill's work was building power plants and so they lived in a lot of different places. Deanna always said it was up to the wife and mother to make those moves exciting. She thought it was adventurous and fun to move around. She tried to make it fun for the kids too. Unfortunately, all the kids did not live with them all the time and one of her biggest regrets was being talked into splitting the kids up when the divorce was final.

Years later while taking a Bible class, the question was asked what made them love and care about their spouse. Deanna put down that from their very first meeting, Bill made her laugh, and she had not done much laughing up to this point in her life. He was so fun to be around. They were married 58 years on Jan. 3, 2024. She would still say after all these many years he could make her laugh until she cried. They had fun together and talked to each other about everything all the time. It was a beautiful marriage, and she was so thankful that God had put them together.

Deanna has said that God gave her many gifts. She loved to cook and bake and was known for her buns, bread and cookies. She published 3 cookbooks over her lifetime. She also enjoyed quilting and hand-quilted many quilts she made for her family. She also loved to paint and has painted over 85 pictures and loved buying old chairs and such to paint pictures on. She did a lot of writing at one time and even wrote articles for the Sidney Herald Newspaper. She also had a blog on Facebook called Deanna's Place where she wrote stories or commentaries on different subjects. One of her greatest accomplishments was she was able to write a book of her stories and it was published. This was a dream come true for her.

Part of her morning routine was to "put her face on" (makeup). She had to be feeling tough not to be able to have her makeup on and her hair combed and fixed.

Deanna and Bill moved back to the farm in Montana after her stepdad died to care for her mother. They lived out there for 27 years and it was a very difficult time as Deanna's mother had some severe mental health problems. It was a challenging time, but she would be the first to tell you that though it was hard and stressful, she and Bill found Christ and became dedicated Christians. One of God's greatest blessings, besides her salvation, was her husband Bill. She now waits for him in heaven.

She leaves behind her husband Bill, their children: Shannon Cone, Mandan, ND; Mikell (Blaine) Wilkens, Hannover, ND; Russell (Ning) Schow, Houston, TX; Carmen Yantzer, Bismarck, ND; Rhett Schow, Seattle WA; Waylon (Renee) Hedegaard, Mexico; and Shagg (Misty) Hedegaard, Shoshoni, WY; She has 16 beautiful grandchildren and over 40 great and great-great grandchildren. She also leaves behind many loving friends and of course, her many kitties.