Doris Ann (Stole) SUNWALL

SUNWALL, STOLE, STUELAND, KOLJONEN, BARSNESS, HECK, NELSON, LANDVIK, RONNING, BOEHME, HJELLMASS, SUTTER

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 12/19/2010 at 12:28:57

December 3, 1924 --- December 17, 2010

Doris Ann (Stole) Sunwall, 86, of Great Falls, died of complications from a recent stroke Friday at Benefis Extended Care. Visitation will be from 4 to 7 p.m. Tuesday at O'Connor Funeral Home, and one hour prior to her 10 a.m. service Wednesday at Triumph Lutheran Brethren Church. A reception at the funeral home will follow the service, and burial will take place at approximately 3:30 p.m. in Golden West Lutheran Church Cemetery near Conrad. O'Connor Funeral Home is handling arrangements.

Doris Ann Sunwall was born Dec. 3, 1924, in Kanawha, Iowa, eldest child of Alvald "A. B." and Blanche (Stueland) Stole. Upon graduation from high school in Goldfield, Iowa, she attended Lutheran Brethren Bible School in Fergus Falls, Minn. Following graduation, she was a missionary for three years on the Turtle Mountain Reservation in Dunseith, N.D., where she met her husband, Samuel Sunwall. They were married Sept. 19, 1950, in Holmes, Iowa. Sam attended Seattle Pacific University for one year, and then Sam and Doris moved to Conrad, where she became a mother to seven children, and a help-mate to her husband in his various endeavors. In 1961, they started farming east of Conrad. From 1964 to 1969, they lived in Dutton while Sam served the Dutton State Bank. In 1969, they moved back to Conrad and resumed farming full time. In 1984, they moved to a farm/ranch southwest of Great Falls on the Missouri River until their retirement from farming in 1987. They moved into Great Falls and for more than seven years were resident assistant managers at Austin Hall for the city housing authority.

In all areas of her life, Doris was a Christian, a follower and disciple of Jesus Christ. She was brought to the Lord in Christian baptism by her parents. As she encouraged others, she was enabled in her walk with her Lord. She was part of the Christian communities in which she lived, the Conrad Mission Church and Triumph Lutheran Brethren Church in Great Falls. She served as Sunday school teacher and member of the Women's Missionary Fellowship and the Gideon's Auxiliary. She was a gifted vocalist and pianist. Sam and Doris had a great love for their daughter, Doreen. She was devoted to her life as a wife and mother of her children.

Survivors include her seven children and their families, Arden and Martha Sunwall of Great Falls and their children, Krista (Jed) Koljonen, Carrie, Katherine and David; Marie and Roy Barsness of Kirkland, Wash., and their children, Jonathan and Jordan; Darrell Sunwall of Great Falls and Barb Sunwall of Oregon City, Ore., and their children Heather and Dustin (Nicki); Rolfe and Lillian Sunwall of Great Falls, and their children Trisha (Nick) Heck and Caleb; Doreen Grace Sunwall of Great Falls; Maureen and Curt Nelson of Great Falls, and their children, Paige, Jamie, Kyle and Kendra; and Ron and Lynn Sunwall of Great Falls, and their children Deron and Annelise. She has two great-grandchildren, Lilliana and Addisyn Heck of Great Falls. Additional survivors include her sisters, Vivian (Norman) Landvik of Port Angeles, Wash., and Joanne Ronning of Forest City, Iowa; an aunt, Leona Boehme of Birmingham, Ala.; sisters-in-law Cathy Hjellmass of Eugene, Ore., Mildred Sunwall and Elvina Sunwall, both of Billings, Frances Sunwall of Fergus Falls, Minn., Frances Sunwall of Sidney and Geraldine Sutter of Eagle Grove, Iowa. She was preceded in death by her husband, parents and a brother, John Stole.

Great Falls Tribune -- Montana
December 19, 2010