Regina Eva "Jean" Lies

Regina Eva Lies passed away on Tuesday, July 19, 2022. She was 89 years old.

Jean was born on March 31, 1933, in Karlsruhe, ND. Her parents, Peter and Johanna, were not rich in worldly possessions, but they treasured their large and happy family. Jean was the fourth youngest of nine children (six girls, three boys) and, from an early age, she learned to care for the rest of her siblings. Those doting habits would carry through to the rest of her life, as she became a constant source of care and comfort for her children and grandchildren.

After graduating from high school, Jean moved to Minot, ND. There, she met a handsome dancing partner named Michael Lies. She and Mike courted for about a year, and Jean would often take the train to visit him, though she had to carry her things in a sack for lack of a suitcase. One day, Mike surprised her with a new suitcase that cost him a week’s wages. Sixty-eight years of marriage later, Jean still had that suitcase with her.

Soon after Mike and Jean started dating, Mike was drafted into the Korean War. Unwilling to be separated, the young couple married on May 21, 1953. After basic training, Mike served as an intelligence analyst for the Pentagon in Arlington, VA. Throughout the rest of their lives together, Mike and Jean would reminisce about their time in Virginia, and how they would walk through the Arlington cemetery each Sunday to the small Catholic Church on the other side. The couple later relocated to Colorado Springs, CO, where Jean had their first son, Bob. Following Mike’s service, the young family returned to Minot, where their second son, Mark, was born.

After brief stints in Fairview, MT and Sterling, CO, Jean, and her family moved to their forever home in Polson, MT. Jean always said that Polson was good to her family, and she and Mike became fixtures in the community. Jean had various jobs at the hospital, the Bee Box Factory, and Cherry Valley grade school. She and Mike were also active in their Catholic congregation and the Elks Club, and Jean served as the President of the Council of Catholic Women. Jean also loved her time as part of the Beta Sigma Phi and in her Red Hat Club.

Though Jean had much in her life to cherish, the thing she held closest to her heart was her family. She loved her two boys and would always speak proudly of the men they had become. And from the day they were born, she and Mike made it their mission to spoil their four grandchildren every holiday, birthday, and any time in between. The grandkids will always remember the over-the-top Christmases, the late-night malts, and the summer nights spent playing in Grandma Jean and Grandpa Mike’s Garden.

Jean loved openly and was loved in return. She will be missed but has returned now to be with her loving husband and her son, Bob.

Jean is survived by her son Mark (Michelle); her daughter-in-law, Kathy; her four grandchildren, Taylor Lies, Tyson Lies, Marissa Schenk, and Teigan Lies; her ten great-grandchildren; and her sisters, Katie West and Joanie Ellis.

Memorial services for Jean will be held on Friday, August 12, 2022, at 11:00 A.M. at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Polson. Burial will follow services at Lakeview Cemetery.