Thelma Feist

Thelma Feist, 96,

Minot, ND, passed away

Sunday, May 8, 2022, at

Trinity Hospital in Minot.

Thelma Helena Salmela

was born in Seattle, WA,

June 8, 1925 to Bruno and

Elin (Takalah) Salmela,

the oldest of three sisters.

She attended grammar

and high schools and later

business college. Thelma

attained employment as a

secretary at a local steel

company. It was there she

met her future husband,

Edward Feist.

They were married May

29, 1947, on a ferry boat

chapel. Their wedding

cake was perfected by her

father, Bruno, a Merchant

Marine baker.

Within a few years, they

moved their growing fam-

ily back to his hometown,

Karlsruhe. They were

blessed with nine chil-

dren. Thelma engaged the

daily duties and chal-

lenges of raising a family.

She helped her children

in teaching them from her

talents in cooking and

baking and by using her

seamstress skills to sew

outfits, other and cloth-

ing. She guided us in

learning these skills,

which we are grateful for.

Thelma took on the role

of secretary again at Feist

Cupboards, helping Ed

until they sold the busi-

ness. They moved to Cali-

fornia in 1991, where four

of their sons had esta-

blished a cabinet busi-

ness. With Dad’s

knowledge and wisdom

the business thrived to be-

come the success of his

children.

When Ed’s health began

failing, they returned to

Minot. Ed passed away

August 19, 1995.

Following the death of

her husband, Thelma

spent her winters snow

birding to California,

where she lived in an ad-

joining remodeled apart-

ment to Randy and Barb’s

residence. In the spring,

she returned to Minot,

enabling her to spend

time with all the family.

Unable to travel in her

remaining years, she

stayed in Minot, living

with Colleen and Daniel.

Much time was spent en-

joying reading her favorite

authors.

Thelma endlessly wrote

birthday cards to all of her

family members. The last

card written was to her

first born grandchild.

She was a member of

St. Leo the Great Catholic

Church in Minot.

Mom will be loved, sad-

ly missed and forever in

our hearts.

Thelma is survived by

her sons and daughters,

Janice (Clifford) Johnson,

Leslie (Sandy) Feist, Tho-

mas (Deborah) Feist, Joel

(Connie) Feist, Colleen

(Daniel) Guevara, Randall

(Barbara), Donovan

(Elaine), David (Laura),

and Charles (Cynthia)

Feist; grandchildren, Jef-

frey Johnson and his com-

panion, Lisa, Wesley

Johnson, Jesse Johnson,

Sean Johnson, and Joel

Johnson and his compan-

ion, Landa; Darren Feist,

Tawni Kastner, Dawn

(Scott) Kyrola; Bryan

Feist, Charlotte Feist,

Matthew Feist, Judith

Feist, Gabrielle (Adam)

Nordby, Amber (Robb)

Rotramel, Austin Feist

and his companion, Kir-

stin Borge; Holly (James)

Wood, Darin (Tammy)

Kram, Jerome Williams

and his companion, Katie,

Lemarr (Alyssa) Williams,

Alisha White, Anthony

Guevara and his compan-

ion, Amber, Melina

Guevara; Ryan (Alyssa)

Feist, Kyle (Noelle) Feist,

Latana (Michael) Powell,

Bethany Feist, Amanda

(Aaron) Clay, Leslie Feist,

Stacie (Vincent) Garabal-

di, Andrew Feist;

great-grandchildren, Vic-

toria and Connor (Mia)

Johnson; Kellie, Gina, and

Shelby Kastner; Ryleigh

and Corbin Kyrola; Hope

Feist, Kevalin McNeil, Ri-

ley and Parker Feist; Len-

non and Oden Feist;

Nathan, Gabriel, and Xa-

vier Wood; Jennifer (Brett)

Pogott, David Ashe, Jonah

Williams, Christian, Cal-

vin, Carson, and Corban

White, Hannah and Caleb

Clay; Micha, Natalie,

Camille, and Caden Gara-

baldi; great

great-grandchildren, Mak-

enna and Cooper Pogott;

and numerous nieces,

nephews, cousins, and

other extended family.

She was preceded in

death by her parents; hus-

band, Edward; sisters,

Bernice Gilman and Sonia

Granger; sons-in-law, Clif-

ford Johnson and Ther-

man Williams;

granddaughter-in-law,

Lisa Johnson; and other

extended family.

Mass of Christian Buri-

al: Monday, May 16, 2022,

at 10:30 a.m. at St. Leo the

Great Catholic Church,

Minot.

Interment: Sts. Peter

and Paul Catholic

Cemetery in Karlsruhe,

ND.

Visitation: Sunday from

3 to 5 p.m. at

Thompson-Larson Fun-

eral Home, Minot.

The service will be

livestreamed for the pub-

lic to view and can be ac-

cessed by going to the

Thompson-Larson Fun-

eral home website:

www.thompsonlarson

.com

Those wishing to sign

the online register and

share memories may ac-

cess the online obituaries

section at

(www.thompsonlarson.

com).