Signora Arlyne (Hammer) Sieverson

Signora "Sig" Sieverson passed away peacefully on Oct. 2, 2017, at age 95, in the loving presence of her family at Westpark Village in Billings. She previously lived in Spokane, WA, and Billings before moving to Westpark Village in 2015. Per Sig's wishes, cremation has taken place.

Signora was born May 15, 1922, near Toronto, South Dakota, to George and Anna Hammer. She was the second child born into what would be a large family of seven children. Her unique first name is a Norwegian name dating back to the 1900's, at which time about one in a million were so named ... and she did live up to her name - as many think Sig was truly "one in a million!"

Sig grew up on "Swede Hill Farm" near Strandburg, South Dakota, during the Depression and World War II, making her frugal and resilient. She taught elementary school in La Bolt, SD, in the early '40s. In 1944, Sig married Vern Sieverson and became a full-time homemaker, raising their four children.

Vern and Sig moved to Billings from Minneapolis when Vern accepted a district sales manager position with Pioneer Engineering. They raised their family in Billings and moved to Spokane in 1976. Sig stayed in Spokane after Vern died in 1992 until moving back to Westpark Village in Billings in 2015.

Sig had an abiding faith in God and was raised as a devout Lutheran - first attending the Tabor Lutheran Church in Strandburg - a gorgeous 1905 Swedish-style church that is still in use today; she was also a longtime member of American Lutheran Church in Billings, as well as St. Marks's Lutheran Church in Spokane. In addition to participating in church activities, Sig was also active in garden club, PEO and bridge club.

Taking care of her family always came first, and she loved hosting big family holiday dinners. Sig particularly enjoyed early morning conversations with guests and family. Sig appreciated visiting with friends, playing cards, sewing, baking, gardening, reading and Lawrence Welk! She took delight in "schooling" her family and friends in the finer points of bridge, cribbage and gin rummy. Her baking skills were hard to beat, particularly her chocolate cake and her LEFSE - a family favorite. She was concerned that lefse baking was becoming a lost cooking tradition for Norwegians, so, at age 94, she gathered family and friends for "Siggy's Lefse School," where all participants spent an entire day learning to prepare lefse dough, rolling it out to be paper thin, cooking lefse, eating lefse and drinking wine! Canning and making jams and jellies were a continued tradition. Plum jelly and sauce from her backyard plum tree in Spokane were renowned.

Sig was preceded in death by her husband, Vern; her parents; three sisters; one brother; and one nephew. She is survived by her brother, Verle (Jan) Hammer; sister, LeeAnn (Don) Juenemann; her children, Jim (Bonnie) Sieverson, JoAnn (Greg) Diener, Dean (LouAnn Himel) Sieverson, and Mary (Jon Tankink) Lynch; grandchildren Chris (Diane) Sieverson, Kate Sieverson, Alex (Chollada) Diener, Sean (Pamela) Diener, Ryan (Sally) Diener, Connor Lynch, Lexie Lynch; and her special niece Lori Levisen; as well as six great-grandchildren, many nieces, nephews, and extended family.

Our family would like to give a special thank you to our friends Bud and Carol Mitzman, Ann Parsons, Kathleen Hammond, Kelly Ann Smith and the Jon Ussin family for including Sig in many activities (visits to Tippet Rise, Bair Museum, Red Lodge, etc.) and for their care and friendship while she lived at Westpark Village. Sig loved all of your visits! Also, Sig was thrilled to reconnect with Pat McAllister, her former neighbor and dear friend. They spent many Saturdays playing cards and listening to "Ginny" sing. Sig enjoyed all of the activities at Westpark ... playing cards, cribbage, Scrabble and rekindling her pool shark skills! Special thanks to all at Westpark Village for their care of Sig.

There will be a celebration of life service for Sig at 10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 28, at Michelotti-Sawyers Mortuary, 1001 Alderson Ave. Reception will follow immediately after the service.

In lieu of flowers, memorials can be made to United Luv (3245 Alpine Drive, Billings MT 59102) - a local charity that provides iPads to children fighting cancer; or the charity of your choice.