Ruth Bernice Hettich(K) Mittelstadt

Ruth Bernice Hettich(k) Mittelstadt

Ruth Bernice Hettich(k) Mittelstadt, born Jan. 4, 1922, in Roscoe, South Dakota, passed away on July 4, 2021, in Missoula. After 99-1/2 years, her heart finally gave way. The following poem was found in her saved papers.

When I come to the end of the road and the sun has set for me,

I want no rites in a gloom filled room. Why cry for a soul set free?

It seems fitting that she was set free on Independence Day, holding the hand of her eldest daughter, after such a long life.

For this is a journey we all must take, and each must go alone.

It’s all part of the Master’s plan—a step on the road to home.

A son, Stanley Mittelstadt, preceded her in death in 1971. As was her fervent wish, she was laid to rest next to her beloved son in Mountview Cemetery on July 9, 2021.

Miss me a little—but not too long, and not with your head bowed low.

Remember the love that we once shared. Miss me, but let me go.

She was the second to youngest of 15 children of the extended family of Katherine Schilling and Michael Hettich. All of her brothers and sisters preceded her in death. She is survived by numerous nieces and nephews and two daughters, Sandy Mitchell of Missoula and Shelley Hey of Lake Placid, Florida. Monte Castellano, her only grandchild, lives in Davie, Florida, with wife Jennifer, and their two children, Lena and Jack.

Her first work years were spent in Alexandria, Virginia, where she lived with her sister, Minnie McAllister. However, as several of her brothers and sisters moved to Billings, so did she, where she met and married Vernon Mittelstadt. While she held several clerical and secretarial positions in Billings, the majority of her work life was spent working for the MT Veterans Administration as she raised her three children.

When you are lonely and sick of heart, go to the friends you know.

And bury your sorrows in doing good deeds. Miss me but let me go.

Her final years were spent at the Auberge/Brookdale Retirement Home, where she had many friends and will be mourned by the staff who enjoyed caring for such a “sweet lady.” Towards the end of her life, as she lost more and more ability to form a sentence, she ended every conversation with “until the cows come home,”

Ruth will be thought of many times, until the cows come home.