Miriam E. Wellman, 87, passed away Sunday, May 7, 2017 at the Liberty County Nursing Home. Her funeral service will be 11 a.m., Monday, May 22, 2017 at the Faith Bible Fellowship in Fort Benton with Jeff Tackes officiating. Burial will follow at the Riverside Cemetery. Memorials in Miriam's honor may be made to the Faith Bible Fellowship, P.O. Box 35, Fort Benton, MT 59442 or the American Heart Association, MT Chapter, 2812 1 ^st Ave. N Ste 216, Billings, MT 59101. Please visit Miriam's online memorial page and leave a message of condolence for the family at www.bentonfh.com . Services and arrangements have been entrusted to Benton Funeral Home.

Miriam was born October 25, 1929 at the family homestead North of Fort Benton in the Goosebill area to Howard and Lura (Schafer) Gessaman. She was one of four children. She was raised and educated in Fort Benton graduating from Fort Benton High School in 1946. Miriam moved to Bozeman and attended MSU there for one year. She then moved to Great Falls and worked for Oliver Equipment and later as a payroll clerk at the Deaconess Hospital. Miriam met the man of her dreams when she tipped over her motorcycle on some gravel and a handsome gentleman stopped to help her right it. The couple dated and were married April 2, 1950 in Fort Benton. The couple honeymooned on the back of a motorcycle across the United States for a year! They left Montana, headed West to Washington state and down South through California and East to New York. They returned to Montana the following spring. They made their home in Great Falls for a few years and then moved North of Fort Benton to the family farm in 1962. Paul and Miriam raised their family of four children on the farm. She was a dedicated farm wife, cooking, sewing the kid's clothes, gardening, and raising chickens. She was a member of the Egly Home Demonstration Women's Club and enjoyed small gatherings at the farm to play pinochle with friends. The most important things to her were the "Lord" and her family.

In later years Miriam and Paul would travel in their motorhome. They retired from farming in 1995 and moved to Fort Benton.

She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband Paul in 2007, her sister Helen Foss and two brothers Donald & Paul Gessaman.

Miriam is survived by her sons: Dennis (Karen) Wellman; Wesley (Debbie) Wellman; Alan (Tiffany) Wellman and daughter Melinda (Rich) Sater. Grandchildren: Clint, Lindsey, Jennifer (Stephen) White, Stacie, Erich (Kayla), Cody, Candice (Casey) Delaney, Tristan, AJ, Brittan, Nate, Landry, Laurel. Three great-grandchildren: Bryson, Skye and Kodi. Brother-in-law Marvin (Marcia) Wellman; and sisters-in-law Lea Lindahl & Joanne Walentynowicz; and numerous nieces and nephews.