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Kathleen “Kathy” Stiefel, 60, of Beulah, ND, peacefully made her way to Heaven on December 29, 2021 at the Knife River Care Center, Beulah. Services will be held at 10:00 AM CST, Monday, January 3, 2022 at Zion Lutheran Church, Beulah, with Pastor Kathleen Dettmann officiating. Burial will follow at the Beulah City Cemetery.
Visitation will be held from 5:00 to 7:00 PM CST on Sunday, January 2, 2022 at Barbot Funeral Home, Beulah.
Kathleen Marie (Paulsrud) Stiefel was born on December 6, 1961 in New Salem North Dakota, a daughter to Thomas and Nancy Paulsrud. Her parents then moved to Beulah, North Dakota and from there Beulah became her forever hometown. Here she met the love of her life, Keith, as a freshman in High School and the two began dating and became inseparable. Kathy graduated from Beulah High School in 1980. Following graduation, she attended Bismarck State College and received her minor in Business Management in 1982. From there she married her high school sweetheart, Keith, on a hot August 13th, 1982 day. The two settled their lives in Beulah and in that union they had two children. Kordell was born on March 22, 1985 and made Kathy a very proud mom. Not shortly after, Katelynn was born on May 11, 1986 on Mother’s Day. Kathy was always so proud of her two children and all of their accomplishments over the years. You could always find Kathy bragging up her two children and her love for them always showed.
After being a stay at home mom for years, Kathy started working for Sakakawea Medical Center and did home health care and hospice work. She also became the head volleyball coach for Beulah High School from 1994-2002. In her career of being a coach, Kathy was honored with Coach of the Year as she took the Miners to a back-to-back State Championships in 1995 and 1996. Her favorite part of coaching was being able to coach her daughter throughout the years as they spent numerous hours in the gym together. Kathy decided to go back to school at Dickinson State University. She received her LPN degree and started to work at Sakakawea Medical Center’s hospital in Hazen, ND from 2005-2008. After receiving her RN degree in 2008, Kathy stayed at SMC and she became the charge nurse and was also in charge of disaster control. After SMC, she started work at Knife River Care Center in Beulah, ND and officially retired from work in 2012 as she started to show signs of Alzheimer’s.
Kathy had the biggest heart and had the natural caregiving personality. She loved helping and caring for people as it was always her passion to become a nurse. She was loved by all her patients, their families, and her co-workers.
Kathy was a huge sports fan, as her favorite team was the Dallas Cowboys. Every Sunday you could find her yelling at the TV rooting for the “boys.” She loved playing basketball with her son, Kory, in the driveway of their home and loved working her daughter, Katelynn, out in the gym playing volleyball. Every summer you could find her on a boat with a fishing reel in her hand as she spent quality time with Keith. She also loved spending time with her parents as they would pack up the whole family and go camping almost every summer. Later in life, Kathy and Keith found their summer passion as they both bought their own Harley Davidson’s and spent many summers traveling around the upper Midwest. They enjoyed their quality time together and meeting new friends along the way. Her son and daughter-in-law found their own passion in ranching and Kathy found a new love of spending numerous hours in the tractor with Kory. She also spent many hours in the swather with Keith jamming out to classic rock and roll music. Kathy also loved spending “girls’ night” with her daughter and her daughter-in-law, Kristen. So many laughs, memories, pictures, and laughing crying tears were made during their time together. She also loved visiting her daughter and son-in-law, Todd, in Dickinson and spent many nights playing skee ball together. Kathy was always so proud every time she would beat Todd. This past summer, Keith purchased a tritoon for the whole family and every weekend you could find the whole family spending time on Lake Sakakawea. Even through Kathy’s Alzheimer’s she was the happiest, loving, and most caring person one could ever meet. She never let the disease completely take her as she was always making everyone laugh, always had a giant smile on her face, and always had a twinkle in her beautiful big blue eyes.
Kathy will be missed by so many people. Her family would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to the Beulah Knife River Care Center, Sakakawea Hospice, and Home Instead for taking such wonderful care of Kathy.
Kathy is survived by her husband, Keith Stiefel; son, Kordell (Kristen) Stiefel; daughter, Katelynn (Todd) Weisenberger; mother-in-Law, Sally Stiefel; brother-in-Law, Kevin (Tiffany) Stiefel,; nephews, Dakota (Megan) Stiefel, Parker Stiefel, Dawson Stiefel, Preston Stiefel and Danny Fisher; niece, Kari (Marc) Hoe; uncles, Bob Richardson and Leon Gilbreth; aunts, Majorie Paulsrud and Lucy Paulsrud; and numerous cousins.
Kathy is preceded in death by her mother, Nancy Paulsrud; dad, Thomas Paulsrud; brother, Dennis Paulsrud; father-in-law, Marvin Stiefel; grandfathers, Lloyd Richardson and John Paulsrud; grandmothers, Emma Richardson and Myrtle Paulsrud; aunts, Carolynn Gilbreth and Norma Richardson; and uncle, Duane Paulsrud.
In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred to SMC Hospice, Home Instead or Knife River Care Center.
Arrangements are conducted by Barbot Funeral Home, Beulah and Hazen.
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