Nia Whitehorn

Nia Marie Whitehorn, 89, a resident of Floweree, a former Arthur Murray instructor, died on Friday, August 24, 2012 at her home in Floweree of natural causes.A private family service will be held at a later date. Schnider Funeral Home is handling the arrangements.Nia Marie Whitehorn passed away quietly in her home in Floweree surrounded by all those who loved her deeply.Nia Marie Whitehorn was born to Carl Haven Wiley and Marie Isabela Anderson on December 4, 1922, in Centralia, Washington. During her early years, she was raised as an only daughter alongside her brother Robert Wiley on the family ranch near Havre. Her fondest childhood memories and first love revolved around horses, mostly Arabians. Learning to ride before she could walk, Nia would often recount the story of how as a young teenager she had ridden her horse Big Red alone throughout the night over the Bear Paw Mountains to get him to the stock train at Big Sandy. As many others who endured the years of the Great Depression, she was forced to live for a brief but difficult period of time with extended family while her mother Marie Wiley sought work at a small pantry off Main Street in Great Falls to make ends meet and pay the mortgage on the Havre ranch. After a short hiatus away, Nia rejoined her mother in Great Falls where she finished high school. By then an attractive, vibrant, auburn haired young lady, she was featured on the cover of one magazine, was never without suitors, and quickly discovered her second love ballroom dancing. Her love of dance led her to become an accomplished Arthur Murray dance instructor and she eventually opened her own dance studio in Great Falls which played a significantly pivotal act in her life. It was at her dance studio that she met and married a young Air Force officer who would become the father of her first two children Wiley and Shane Hoffmann, and who would show her a life of travel and adventure. For the next 16 years of her life throughout the 60s and 70s, Nia lived in Argentina, Mexico, Panama and Peru adapting rapidly to different customs, learning Spanish, enjoying elaborate embassy functions and galas and making lifelong friends and memories. Always though, a kernel of nostalgia and longing for her roots tugged at her and she eventually returned to Great Falls to care for her aging mother. It was during this period of time in the early 1980s when, by sheer happen-stance, she met the third and most profound love of her life at a check-out counter in a grocery store. Mr. Wayne Whitehorn, an Arthur Murray Studio alumnus, recognized Nia as his dance instructor from 30 years earlier and, as they say. the rest is history. Nia and Wayne married shortly after and went on to live an extraordinarily content, fulfilled and serene life at his family farm outside Floweree. With her husband, Wayne always by her side, Nia rekindled her love for horses and for many years danced with the Golden Slippers troupe and at the Elks Club in Great Falls. Over the next 29 years together, Nia introduced her husband, Wayne to exotic locations, taking him South to Argentinas Patagonian plains and the mountains of Venezuela, North to the frigid waters of Alaska and West to the sunny beaches of Hawaii. Mostly though, she enjoyed the peaceful tranquility of being on the Whitehorn farm. Her husband, Wayne was proud to say they never had one argument... although they disagreed on that. Et fin, as the first harvest of the year was brought in she passed away in the land she cherished so much, embraced by loved ones and having led a grand, adventurous and fulfilling life. She never graduated college or wrote a book life was her school weaving within it a tapestry of experiences tomes could be written from.Mrs. Whitehorn is survived by her loving husband, Wayne Whitehorn; her sons, Wiley and Shane Hoffmann and Dan Whitehorn; her daughter, Eulalie Whitehorn and numerous grandchildren.She was preceded in death by her parents, Carl Haven Wiley and Marie Isabela Anderson.In lieu of flowers donations may be made to the American Cancer Society, 1903 Central Ave, Billings, MT59102.Condolences for the family may be left at www.schniderfuneralhome.com.