Anna Gurina (Ness) Seewald lived life on her terms until passing peacefully in her sleep on September 26. During her life, she stitched together a tapestry of family, friends, faith and fabric. She left a few seams unfinished so that her children, grandchildren, brothers and sisters-in-law, nieces and nephews, and many friends could continue her creation.
Anna was born to Leif and Esther Ness on June 30, 1945 and she was raised in Santa Rita with her brothers John and Leif Ness, Jr. On December 27, 1963, she married Jim Seewald and moved to Landslide Farms to embrace her role as a woman in agriculture and farm with Jim alongside her in-laws Dick and Faye. She was known for cooking hearty meals for harvest crews, hauling beef cattle for processing, and herding her four children – Rick, Julie, Brenda, and J.C. – to adulthood. Her life was filled with 4-H, school activities, and the shenanigans of her kids who each received her gift of quick wit, humor, and the ability to say somewhat inappropriate things at the right moment.
Anna transformed her sewing skills into a successful home business when she started Anna’s Needle Accents. She put the names of every high school graduate and newly married couple onto towels for nearly four decades. Anna was a woman of strength and patience which was tested with losses of Dick, Jim, Rick, Faye, her mother Esther and step-father Joe Johnson.
She faced each illness with enviable grace. Anna was married to Bill Kartevold. While they divorced, they remained friends.
Anna raised her children to find their individual strengths and to pursue them with complete dedication. Each child was gifted with their parent’s work ethic, commitment to finding causes greater than themselves, and creating families bound together by an unconditional commitment to one another. Each of her children tested her patience on occasion.
Anna’s reward for getting through these moments was her grandchildren. She found immense joy in their activities and their ability to return a little karma to their parents with their own antics. Anna was preceded in death by her husband Jim, her parents Leif and Esther, step-father Joe, in-laws Dick and Faye, and son Rick.
She is survived by J.C., Hapi, JR, Brant and Bauer Seewald, Brenda, Nick, Hailey, Cy, Brendan, and Ali Miller, and Dru, Julie, Bridger, and Piper Bornhoeft as well as her brothers and their families John and Elaine Ness and Leif and Midge Ness along. Anna’s definition of family was not limited by blood, she also leaves behind an incredible network of friends who shared her love of quilting and brought her great joy in retirement through sewing days, quilting retreats, and trips to the fabric store. Anna believed in enjoying life and knew that days were never promised.
Her kids ask that you celebrate her spirt with an indulgence – drink the Diet Coke, eat the Amish cream pie, buy the fabric. She’d want you to. If you wish to honor her legacy, please invest in the local 4-H program that she took great pride in and deeply valued.
Donations can be made to Glacier County 4-H Council. Celebration of Anna’s life will be held Monday, October 1, 2018 at 1:00 PM at the St. Paul Lutheran Church in CutBank, MT with a reception to follow.
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