Violet "Vi" M. Ronningen, 96, Sidney, MT, formerly of Savage, MT

Funeral services for Violet "Vi" M. Ronningen, 96, Sidney, MT, formerly of Savage, MT, are at 11 a.m. on Friday, Feb. 23, 2024, at the First Lutheran Church, Savage, MT, with Pastor Tim Tharp officiating. Visitation will be Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Fulkerson Stevenson Memorial Chapel, Sidney, MT, and from 5 to 6 p.m. at the church in Savage, with a family and friends service at 6 p.m. Interment will be in the Riverview Cemetery, Savage, MT. Fulkerson Stevenson Funeral Home, Sidney, MT, is assisting the family. Remembrances, condolences, and pictures may be shared with the family at http://www.fulkersons.com.

During the early evening, on Feb. 16, 2024, Violet "Vi" Marie (Oversen) Ronningen passed on after a long battle with deteriorating health at the Sidney Health Center- Extended Care Facility.

Violet was born on Sept. 8, 1927, at home on a farm near Sidney, MT, the youngest of seven children to Niels Peter Oversen and Julia Marie (Christensen) Oversen.

She would smile and tell stories of when she was very young and babysat the Bosshard girls. Then, while still a young girl attending Ridgelawn School, she would walk home and tackle the chores, caring for livestock and toting firewood to the house, among many other jobs. Not a burden, just something that needed to be done. Later, after the family relocated to a farm in Savage, she told of how she and the Kimball girls would short hoe sugar beets on their knees and then hand top those same beets in the fall and load them by shovel on the wagons as teenagers. She worked many jobs in her lifetime to support her family. She worked the lunch counters at Woolworth, Lalonde Hotel, Ben Franklin, and others. She was a nurse's aide at the Sidney Hospital and Nursing Home. All through life, she was a masterful sewer, from making western shirts for her older brothers when young to clothing and dresses for her children and others. Some very happy years came when she worked as a seamstress for the Dasinger Brothers Cleaners. After finally retiring, she still kept sewing at home. Even while recovering from a broken hip and replacement surgery, she insisted on crocheting many stocking caps for gifts to the SHC newborns.

Her older brothers and sister were very close, and they often visited and got together. Overheard conversations usually centered around the youthful antics of farm children with vivid imaginations. Eventually they all grew up and got older and wiser.

After graduating from Savage High School in 1945, she naturally went to work. Eventually in 1946, she met and married Allan Ronningen and to that marriage were six children: Ron (Betty) Ronningen, Billings, MT; Donna (Keith) Nelson, Savage, MT; Herb Ronningen, Colstrip, MT (deceased);, Bob (Janice) Ronningen, St Augustine, FL, Judy Church, Billings, MT; and Gene Ronningen, Savage, MT.

They farmed north of Sidney and eventually settled in Savage, MT. Later in their lives, Violet and Allan divorced. Violet kept anchored in Savage and lived there most of her life until deteriorating health and mobility led her to the Extended Care Facility in Sidney, MT.

Mom is survived by all her children, excluding Herb; her dear sister-in-law Lorna Oversen, Laurel, MT; 14 grandchildren, 35 great-grandchildren, 2 great-great-grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews.

Violet was preceded in death by her parents; twin 2 month old brothers Herbert and Robert (whooping cough 1918), Brorson, MT; siblings Herb (1943), Savage, MT; Robert (Lorna) (1996), Laurel, MT; Rose Considine, Savage, MT (2001); and Donald (2014), Miles City, MT; her son, Herb in 1993 which devastated her; grandson Daniel Church; granddaughter Robyn; and many brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law and cousins. These passings weighed very heavily on her weakened heart.

Her family is deeply grateful for all those who were there for her, including the home nurses and Adeline Liesener that allowed her to stay at home for so long, and her care doctors and nurses. Special gratitude to the nurses and staff of Sidney Health Center Extended Care. God's angels, with difficult jobs, one and all.