Kathleen (Kay) Helen Schweitzer of Helena, Montana died from an accident on August 21, 2011 at the age of 83. Ms. Schweitzer was born on September 24, 1927 on a farm near Box Elder, Montana the fourth of five children to Michael and Hannah McKernan. Michael and Hannah moved to America from Ireland in the early 1900\u2019s. In addition to Kay, their children were Michael McKernan, deceased; Mary Brady, deceased; Nora Nelson and Patricia Warhank.<\/p>\n
In 1946, Kay married Adam Schweitzer in a double wedding with her sister Patricia, who married Adam\u2019s good friend Raymond Warhank. Patty and Kay met the young men at post-World War II dance on the Hi-Line. After their marriage, Kay and Adam managed the Schweitzer family farm near Gildford, Montana before moving to Geyser, Montana in 1954. Kay played an active part in managing the family farm, especially since the 1970\u2019s when the family built the internationally renowned Schweitzer Simmentals. Schweitzer Simmentals produced the first Simmental calf in the United States in 1968, and held the first production Simmental Sale. Schweitzer Simmentals produced award winning Polled Fullboods. The Schweitzer Simmental cattle won numerous awards, including: Grand Champion with a bull named Montana in Argentina, and Grand Champions in Europe, Australia, and Mexico. Her final show was in Fort Worth, TX where she won the title of World Championship Bull. Kay was the driving force behind Schweitzer Simmentals; everyone knew that Kay was the one who marketed, groomed, and trained the cattle.<\/p>\n
Kay also became passionate over world and political events. She organized a group of women to protest the low price of wheat in Great Falls, Montana. Later, many of these same women became the founding members of Women Involved in Farm Economics (WIFE). She organized a protest to the boycotting of eating meat movement, also held in Great Falls. During the early 70\u2019s, she wrote countless letters to Montana\u2019s legislators regarding her political beliefs. She even tried acting when she played Eleanor Roosevelt for a play about First Ladies produced by the Flathead Women\u2019s Democratic organization. She became active with the Hibernian Women\u2019s organization in Helena, Montana. Kay was a devout Catholic. She was the coordinator for mass at Waterford Retirement facility for the past several years. In her later years, she enjoyed world travel to countries such as Canada, Ireland, Scotland, Australia, Mexico, Germany, Denmark, Switzerland, and Saudi Arabia. Kay was proud that all six of her children attended college and pursued successful careers as doctors, real-estate agents, farmer, rancher, consultants, and governor.<\/p>\n
Kay is survived by her sisters Nora Nelson from Havre and Pat Warhank from Rudyard; her children Darwin (Sharon), OR; Warren (Ingela), CA; Mike (Jolyn), Billings, Montana; Brian (Nancy) Helena, Montana; Walter (Cindy), Helena, Montana; and Mary, OH; 12 Grandchildren and 3 Great Grandchildren. She is preceded in death by her husband, Adam, 2 siblings and one grandchild.<\/p>\n
A rosary is planned for 6 p.m. on August 31, 2011 at the Retz Funeral Home in Helena. A funeral will be at 10:00 a.m. on September 1st at the Cathedral of St. Helena in Helena, MT. She will be buried next to her husband at 4 p.m. on September 1 in Highland Cemetery, Havre.<\/p>\n
Donations may be made to her grandson\u2019s Beau\u2019s Catholic order, the Society of our Lady of Most Holy Trinity (SOLT) at PO Box 149 Robstown, TX 78380. To offer condolences to Kay\u2019s family or to share a memory of Kay, please visit www.retzfuneralhome.com.<\/p>\n","photo":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/1242118.jpg","youtube_video_url":"","family_email":"","family_first_name":"","family_last_name":"","event_title5":"","event_date5":"","start_time5":"","end_time5":"","location5":"","address5":"","city5":"","state5":"","zipcode5":"","event_title6":"","event_date":"","start_time6":"","end_time6":"","location6":"","address6":"","city6":"","state6":"","zipcode6":"","event_title7":"","event_date7":"","start_time7":"","end_time7":"","location7":"","address7":"","city7":"","state7":"","zipcode7":"","event_title8":"","event_date8":"","start_time8":"","end_time8":"","location8":"","address8":"","city8":"","state8":"","zipcode8":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/case\/23363","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/case"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/case"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23363"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}