Lillian Wiest

Lillian Wiest, 89, Bismarck, died December 27, 2012, at the Baptist Home, Bismarck. Services will be held at 1:00 pm Friday, January 11, at Faith Lutheran Church, Bismarck, with Rev. Gary Heaton officiating. Burial will follow in the spring at Memory Gardens Cemetery in Valley City, North Dakota. Visitation will be held one hour prior to the service at the church. Lillian Anundson was born June 26, 1923, in Valley City, North Dakota, to John and Anna Bjerke Anundson. She was preceded by four brothers and seven sisters, and would be followed by another sister. She attended school in Valley City until she, along with several siblings, was separated from her mother and sent to a children's home in Lake Park, Minnesota. She continued her education there until reunited with the rest of her family in Valley City, where she eventually graduated from high school. She worked at several businesses in Valley City, most notably Auction City and Haroldson's Office Supply, where she would develop what came to be lifelong friendships with her bosses, who she impressed with both her warmth and work ethic. Being one of the "greatest generation," she saw her four brothers and one sister off into military service, two before Pearl Harbor with the North Dakota National Guard, and the rest following that terrible day. Another of her sisters left for the coast and a job as a wartime "Rosie Riveter." After the war, she was happily reunited with all of her siblings, and continued to work and live in Valley City. Lillian married Luther F. Wiest on June 28, 1957, at Our Savior's Lutheran Church in Valley City. The couple continued to live in Valley City until 1965, when Northwestern Bell Telephone transferred Luther to Bismarck, North Dakota, where they would live out the rest of their lives. They had no children, but welcomed their nephew Glenn Elliott into their home in September 1968 following the death of his mother, Lillian's sister Alpha or "Debby." They raised him until he departed for college in 1973, watching him complete his education at Simle Junior High and Bismarck High School. Luther, a Korean War veteran, and Lillian were both active members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars post in Bismarck, as well as the Telephone Pioneers following Luther's retirement from Northwestern Bell in 1984. Lillian worked part-time for some years afterwards in the North Dakota Tax Department. Lillian retired in 1996 to care for Luther after he suffered a stroke, and faithfully did so until Luther's passing in June 2007. After several health setbacks in late 2011 and early 2012, Lillian entered the Baptist Home in Bismarck, where she lived until passing away on December 27, 2012, following a severe stroke. Lillian was preceded in death by Luther's and her parents and all of both her and Luther's siblings, and by three of her nephews, part of the numerous group known to each other as "the cousins." She is survived by the rest of those nieces and nephews, including Glenn.

Lillian Wiest

June 26, 1923 - December 27, 1912