We are here today to celebrate the life of Catherine Marie Deines. Cathy was born in Missoula, Montana, on December 12th, 1955, to Mae Hueth, her birth mother. At this time, it is hard to determine why Mae allowed Lil and Don McRea, Lil being Mae’s sister, to adopt Cathy at a very young age. Sadly, Cathy was very hurt by that and always avoided talking about it.

The McReas moved around the state, where Don worked many different jobs. Cathy went to several different schools until they moved to Billings. She graduated from Billings Senior High. Cathy was one of the first girls to take electronics classes at Senior High. This led her to a job installing and wiring panels with the phone company.

After a while, Cathy moved on to becoming an LPN through the St. Vincent Hospital LPN training program in Billings. Cathy was assigned to the terminal ward, where the patients she worked with never went home; they just passed away. She became attached to some of the people, and it was hard on her to see them pass away, so she burned out quickly and quit nursing.

She went to work for the City of Billings Water Department as a meter reader. It did not take long, and she worked her way up to an Administrative Assistant for the water department. During that period, she met one of her friend’s ex-sons-in-law, Steven Deines. They dated, and after a few months, they took off and got married on January 9th, 1988.

For years, they would go snowmobiling at Lolo Hot Springs on their anniversary. They moved to Shepherd, Montana. They went motorcycle riding all over Montana and Wyoming. She loved camping. They put together an old school bus (which they still have) as a camper, which took them all over Montana, South Dakota, the Black Hills, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, and California into the Redwoods. There also was boating and skiing and fishing, and some hiking in Montana.

Cathy showed her strength by taking on the role of stepmother. The girls were always with us on our camping, boating, and fishing trips. The girls were in the Girl Scouts. One of the field trips was to GreyCliff Montana Waterslide in the old bus. One year, she became the Girl Scout Cookie Chairperson for Shepherd and Huntley Project, and we had over 3,000 cases of cookies in our garage. There was Jennifer’s Little League baseball, where they went undefeated one year, and Audrey’s volleyball and cheerleading.

As things went on, the girls went upon their own different paths. Cathy and Steven moved back to Billings into a smaller place but continued camping, motorcycle riding, etc.

Sadly, in March of 2026, Cathy was diagnosed with lung cancer in the right lung. There seemed to be lots of time between treatments, and the treatments were not doing anything to stop the cancer. Oncology came up with this drug that showed good results in fighting cancer with minimal side effects. She was administered the drug and had some issues, but Cathy was totally assured that they could counter any reactions. She was then admitted to the hospital for observation.

Less than 8 hours later, she was put into the ICU because she could not breathe. 12 hours later, the ICU put Cathy on a ventilator to help her breathe. 12 days later, the ICU doctors had done everything they could to stop the reaction and save her. The treatment had accelerated the lung cancer to the point it destroyed both lungs.

At 12:15 AM on September 14th, the ventilator was removed. She gave me the biggest smile from ear to ear for 20 seconds, took two short breaths, and 5 minutes later, her heart stopped and it was over.

Catherine’s survivors include her husband, Steven; his brother Alden and his wife Patty, our camping buddies; their son Zack; his girlfriend Amber, with their daughter Poppy.

Sister-in-law Vickie, husband Bill McCormick, their son Shaun and his girlfriend Meghan, with their son Andrew.

Their daughter Johanna and her son Paxton.

Catherine’s sister, Patrica Hueth Bini; her proud daughters, who are military families; Cathy’s favorite nieces, Samantha, husband Chris, and children Payton, Hadley, and Easton; and Nichole, husband Arnold, with Alexander and Margo.

Catherine’s sister-in-law, Moon Supim Hueth, and her extended family.

Cathy’s stepdaughter Jennifer, boyfriend Nate.

Cathy’s favorite granddaughters, Destiny, who is very shy, then Oakley, Cathy’s favorite cooking and playing-in-the-playgrounds partner. Cathy missed them very much during her last days.

Cathy’s stepdaughter Audrey, information unknown.

A very special big thanks to Joy Nebel, who has always been there to help, and not just the last few months, but the last 35 years. She helped both of us get through some bad times. They never went a day without talking 3–10 times a day.

Another special thanks to my family, who have not been together for a lot of years, but came together to help me get caught up on things that I could not get done this summer while Cathy was sick.

Another big thanks to the people who work in the ICU, the pulmonary department, and the infectious diseases department. I truly believe they did everything they could to save Cathy.