1919
Harriet
2011
Harriet Stinebaugh Gagner
November 13, 1919 — June 13, 2011
Harriet Stinebaugh Gagner passed away on 13 June 2011 at the Marias Medical Center in Shelby. Harriet was 91 years of age at the time of her death and living at the Marias Care Center. Cause of death was a stroke and other difficulties incident to age. She is survived by her sister Ina who lives in Oregon, her son and daughter in law Thomas and Sheridan Stinebaugh of Bonners Ferry, Idaho and daughters and sons-in-law Cathi and Philip Fleury of Lakewood, Washington and Jody and Duane Tait of Cheney, Washington. She had sixteen grandchildren and thirty eight great-grandchildren at the time of her passing.
Harriet Audrey Stearns was born November 13, 1919 in Conrad, Montana. She was the 7th of eight children born to Earl Hiram and Bertha Ann Stearns. At the time of her birth the family lived in Manson, Montana where they farmed. Harriet had four brothers, Wesley, Guy, Elmer and William who died in infancy and three sisters. The sisters were Ruth, Maude and Ina.
In 1923 the Stearns family moved to Shelby and her father started the Shelby Dairy. The family lived on the hill close to the water tower in what she referred to as “the Evans place”. Memories of the dairy include her father delivering milk in a baby carriage.
Harriet’s early memories included tales of walking from the Evan’s place down the hill to school. The schools she attended were located next to the old Shelby High School. Later in 1927 the family moved to a house on the north side near the railroad tracks and the dairy.
Childhood friends included Pauline and Virginia Holderby and Donna Lee Burton all of Shelby. Her life- long friend Donna Lee Hughes passed away just a year ago in Cut Bank.
Harriet graduated from Shelby High School in 1938. Her high school experiences included singing in plays. She started singing at a young age and still remembers singing “Pretty Red Wing” as a young child. Her grandchildren still love to sing “In the Little Red Schoolhouse” taught to them by their grandma. In Harriet’s adult years she sang in the Methodist Church choir.
She graduated from school on a Friday and went to work at the courthouse on Monday morning. Her initial salary was $14 a week and she was only allowed to work one week a month in a government program to allow as many people as possible the opportunity to work in the years at the end of the depression.
Her life’s work experiences included numerous clerical jobs at the Lewis Garage, JC Penney’s and later at the Shelby Times. Her later years included work at the Shelby Hospital as nurse assistant. Her real work enjoyment came in caring for the children of several Shelby families whose children remained dear to her to the end of her life.
Harriet was married to Lloyd Edwin Stinebaugh on January 18th 1942. Since Lloyd was called into active duty in the Army in February, Harriet joined the WAAC or Women’s Auxiliary Army Corp. She took basic training in Des Moines, Iowa and later advanced training in Arkansas. Due to back problems and difficulty with the extreme heat she was later discharged for medical reasons.
Lloyd and Harriet had three children who they raised in Shelby. Lloyd passed away February 8, 1982. Years later following Lloyd’s death she married Edward Gagner and they resided in Shelby.
Harriet was interested and prided herself in cooking, sewing and decorating her homes. Later in life reading was included among her interests. She traveled to Europe and included a visit to her sister, Ina in Turkey in 1968.
Harriet lived her entire life in Shelby and considered it the “most beautiful and best place to live”. She rejected opportunities in her later years to move closer to children away from Shelby. She was always extremely loyal to her home town, doctors, friends and her country.
As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints she served in numerous callings throughout her life adult life.
Funeral services were held at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on June 16, 2011. Interment was at the Mountain View Cemetery in Shelby.
Harriet Audrey Stearns was born November 13, 1919 in Conrad, Montana. She was the 7th of eight children born to Earl Hiram and Bertha Ann Stearns. At the time of her birth the family lived in Manson, Montana where they farmed. Harriet had four brothers, Wesley, Guy, Elmer and William who died in infancy and three sisters. The sisters were Ruth, Maude and Ina.
In 1923 the Stearns family moved to Shelby and her father started the Shelby Dairy. The family lived on the hill close to the water tower in what she referred to as “the Evans place”. Memories of the dairy include her father delivering milk in a baby carriage.
Harriet’s early memories included tales of walking from the Evan’s place down the hill to school. The schools she attended were located next to the old Shelby High School. Later in 1927 the family moved to a house on the north side near the railroad tracks and the dairy.
Childhood friends included Pauline and Virginia Holderby and Donna Lee Burton all of Shelby. Her life- long friend Donna Lee Hughes passed away just a year ago in Cut Bank.
Harriet graduated from Shelby High School in 1938. Her high school experiences included singing in plays. She started singing at a young age and still remembers singing “Pretty Red Wing” as a young child. Her grandchildren still love to sing “In the Little Red Schoolhouse” taught to them by their grandma. In Harriet’s adult years she sang in the Methodist Church choir.
She graduated from school on a Friday and went to work at the courthouse on Monday morning. Her initial salary was $14 a week and she was only allowed to work one week a month in a government program to allow as many people as possible the opportunity to work in the years at the end of the depression.
Her life’s work experiences included numerous clerical jobs at the Lewis Garage, JC Penney’s and later at the Shelby Times. Her later years included work at the Shelby Hospital as nurse assistant. Her real work enjoyment came in caring for the children of several Shelby families whose children remained dear to her to the end of her life.
Harriet was married to Lloyd Edwin Stinebaugh on January 18th 1942. Since Lloyd was called into active duty in the Army in February, Harriet joined the WAAC or Women’s Auxiliary Army Corp. She took basic training in Des Moines, Iowa and later advanced training in Arkansas. Due to back problems and difficulty with the extreme heat she was later discharged for medical reasons.
Lloyd and Harriet had three children who they raised in Shelby. Lloyd passed away February 8, 1982. Years later following Lloyd’s death she married Edward Gagner and they resided in Shelby.
Harriet was interested and prided herself in cooking, sewing and decorating her homes. Later in life reading was included among her interests. She traveled to Europe and included a visit to her sister, Ina in Turkey in 1968.
Harriet lived her entire life in Shelby and considered it the “most beautiful and best place to live”. She rejected opportunities in her later years to move closer to children away from Shelby. She was always extremely loyal to her home town, doctors, friends and her country.
As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints she served in numerous callings throughout her life adult life.
Funeral services were held at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on June 16, 2011. Interment was at the Mountain View Cemetery in Shelby.
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