Obituary - Henrietta B. Sievenpiper

Wednesday, February 7, 2001
THE JUNEAU EMPIRE

Longtime Juneau resident Henrietta Bernadine Heezen Sievenpiper died Feb. 6, 2001, at the Juneau Pioneers' Home.

Sievenpiper was born March 27, 1908, in Pella, Iowa and grew up on a farm in Corsica, S.D.

She received a teaching certificate from Northwest Nazarene College and attended the University of Wisconsin where she worked on a master's degree.

She married the Rev. Harley H. Sievenpiper in August 1934, and they had three children, Elizabeth, Reginald and Harley Jr.

The couple pastored churches in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Oklahoma.

In 1944, the family moved to Candle, Alaska, to run the Weather Bureau, Post Office and radio station. They moved to Juneau in 1951 to help start the Church of the Nazarene and Juneau became their home.

Henrietta Sievenpiper worked as a credit manager for Sears and later taught kindergarten until her retirement.

The couple lived at Auke Bay, Fritz Cove, and Gold Street in Juneau, then moved into the Pioneers' Home.

She had the gift of hospitality and always had an open door at her home where everyone felt welcomed, loved and appreciated. She loved God, her church, people, art and poetry. She did a genealogy of the family and she wrote her childhood stories and many poems. She had great love for her family and let the grandchildren stay overnight to work on projects such as baking a pie, embroidery or coloring a quilt square.

She was preceded in death by her husband Harley Sievenpiper Sr. and two sons, Reginald and Harley Sievenpiper Jr.

She is survived by daughter Elizabeth Wright of Kansas City, Kan.; daughter-in-laws Tammy Sievenpiper of Nampa, Idaho, and Diane Conway of Juneau; grandchildren Lori Wright, Stacey Cook, Alessia Sievenpiper, Cara Langel, Camii Sievenpiper, and Ray Sievenpiper; and great-grandchildren Sarah, Breanna, Casey, Kyle, Corbin, Brittany, Alex, Brandon, Cori and Kelly.

Funeral services will be held 10 a.m., Saturday, Feb. 10, at the Juneau Church of the Nazarene, 3220 Mendenhall Loop Road. Visitation will be Friday, Feb. 9, 3:30-4:30 p.m. at the Alaskan Mortuary, 3839 North Riverside Dr.