Hazel Hedstrom, 97

Hazel B. Hedstrom, 97, passed away from natural causes at the Grandview Rehabilitation Center in Great Falls on Aug. 29, 2024.

She was born in 1926 in Heathsville, Virginia, to Edith M. Balderson and Leonard Y. Balderson, the youngest daughter in a family of three sons and four daughters. She met her husband, Edward W. Hedstrom, in 1946 in Baltimore, Maryland, after his discharge from the Army, where Hazel was attending business school. They were married on Aug. 30, 1947, and moved to Montana where her husband went to work for the Great Northern Railroad. Edward and Hazel raised their family of five children in Kalispell, Havre and Great Falls.

Hazel will remain in the hearts of her brother, Leonard James, her four surviving children, Linda (Steffel), Steve (Jane), Janet, and Mark (Sharon), and her seven grandchildren — Steve’s children, Laura, Stephanie (Roger) and Matt; and Mark’s children, Jeff (Melissa), Mandy (Anders), Jared (Julie) and Josh (Jacy). She also had nine great-grandchildren, Kaeden, Emma, Libby, Layne, Emmett, Alyssa, Alivia, Samuel and Sawyer. She will also be fondly remembered by her extended family and friends in Thompson Falls, the Flathead, the Puget Sound area, and in Virginia. 

Hazel’s family remembers her for her devotion to her husband of 70 years. She was a loving and kind person and made friends easily wherever she and her family lived. She adored children and babies, and after her children had grown and started their own families, she loved having the youngsters visit her in her home and later in her apartment in the Rainbow’s assisted living establishment. Before moving into the Rainbow, Hazel raised beautiful roses and peonies in her backyard so she could enjoy fresh flowers in their home. And she baked an amazing chocolate cake for birthdays and family picnics.

She was preceded in death by her husband and parents, her daughter Peggy, her brothers Harvey and Bobby, and her three sisters, Cecile, Dahlia and Beatrice. 

In Hazel’s honor, memorial donations may be sent to organizations supporting Montana veterans.