Thelma Ann Seyfert

Thelma Ann Seyfert was called home peacefully on Sunday, November 10, 2024.

Thelma was born September 10, 1932, on a ranch near Landusky, Montana to Charles and Madeline (Doney) Kelsey, the youngest of 8 children. She attended St. Paul’s Catholic Mission in Hays, Montana until it burned, then finished her education at the Landusky School. She worked on ranches where her parents worked in and around the Little Rockies. Growing up she was quite a tomboy and had a myriad of pets including a skunk, coyote, mice, and frogs. She loved to chase her sister with snakes and her mother Madeline once said, “she was a terror.”
She met the love of her life, Donald A. Seyfert in 1964, and they were married on February 5, 1966. They were
happily married for 54 years.

Thelma was loved by all who met her, and as they relocated several times due to Don’s job with the Montana Highway Patrol, making many lifelong friends and touching the lives of everyone she met. She was the matriarch of our family and a fantastic mother and not just to her 4 kids, she took care of children in every town she lived in Libby, Havre, Custer, Glendive, and Great Falls! She planned and orchestrated multiple family get-togethers yearly. Her efforts made us and kept us the close-knit family we are today!

She worked in the home and outside the home doing what needed to be done. Along with taking care of children, she worked as a nursing assistant in the Phillips County Hospital and Northern Montana Hospital, helped open and worked at the D&L Café with friends in Custer, at the Custer Food Market, and in-home nannying for two families in Great Falls. She volunteered and participated in altar society, potlucks, and attended local sporting events.
Her talents were vast. She loved to dance and had a beautiful operatic singing voice. She was an amazing cook and baker – some of the family’s best memories were the marathon cookie baking during Christmas, sewing and crafts – she sewed costumes for the theatre arts department of Dawson County High School in Glendive. She was nicknamed Miss Congeniality at the Grandview Assisted Living where she went to live after her beloved Don passed away in 2020. Her laugh was contagious and made people smile. She was the most warm and loving woman and brought joy to people’s lives.

She is survived by her four children, Greg (Denise) Kelsey of Malta, Mike (Sandra) Evans of Great Falls, April (Steve) Smith of Great Falls, and Tami (Greg) Grosenick of Great Falls; grandchildren, Scott(Lauren) Kelsey-Askinosie, James Kelsey, Michael (Paige) Kelsey, Miranda (Cole) Peterson, Alia Evans, Isabelle Grosenick, and Tyler Grosenick; step-grandchildren, John Luke and Lilliana Corbett; great-grandchildren, Marigold, Cardinal, Teagan, and Tallum; many loved nephews and nieces; church family, at Bethel Lutheran Church; and friends.

There will be a celebration of life at Bethel Lutheran Church in Great Falls on Saturday, December 14, 2024, at 2:00 p.m. An internment will be held next summer at the Malta City Cemetery in Malta, Montana.
Memorials in Thelma’s name can be sent to Family Promise of Great Falls.