The following obituaries appeared in the March 8, 2023 edition of the Star Valley Independent.
For more area obituaries, please visit Schwab Mortuary.
For more resources including headstones, please visit the Star Valley Historical Society.
Rev. Tammy Heimgartner, 61, passed from this life near the beginning of February at her home in Thayne, Wyoming. Tammy was born in Clarkston, Washington on June 5, 1961, to Clarence (Toad) Cletus Heimgartner and Erma Ruth Sampson Heimgartner. She was preceded in death by her parents, brother Dan Heimgartner, and brother-in-law Robert Whitney. She is survived by her sister, Nadine Whitney of Winston, Oregon, and nephew Marvin (Candi) Heimgartner of Spalding, Idaho.
Tammy grew up on a farm in north central Idaho, near Culdesac and Gifford. She graduated from Culdesac High School where she received numerous academic honors. Tammy attended Lewis-Clark State College and was a graduate of Valley Business College both located in Lewiston, Idaho. She worked in real estate prior to joining the Idaho State Patrol as a dispatcher.
Her formal call to ministry began in Connell, Washington at Gideon Lutheran Church. During her time there she obtained her Doctor of Ministry degree from Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary in Berkley, California as part of the TEEM program. She was ordained in December of 2008. In July 2010, Tammy left Connell and served a number of different congregations in the Lewiston area as a supply pastor. In March of 2012, she received a call from Grace Lutheran Church in Mountain Home, Idaho where she served until September 2020. She then answered a call from Star Valley United Church in Thayne, Wyoming, leaving in October of last year.
While her formal call to ministry came later in her life, Tammy was a very active member of her home congregation of Good Hope Lutheran Church in Gifford, Idaho. She filled practically all the positions one could hold. Good Hope was where Tammy was ordained. It seems appropriate that she will be laid to rest in the church cemetery there on the celebration of her birthday, June 5. Tammy was also serving on the synod council at the time of her death.
A memorial service will be held on Saturday, March 18, at Star Valley United Church with Pastor Pim Stadem officiating. Inurnment will take place of June 5, at Good Hope Lutheran Church in Gifford, Idaho. A second memorial service will be held at Grace Lutheran Church in Mountain Home, Idaho and is slated for June 12.
To honor her love for the church and its people, the family suggests donations be given to Lutheran World Relief, P. O. Box 17061, Baltimore, MD, 21297-1061. To honor Tammy’s love of her pets, gifts can be given to Helping Hands Rescue, P. O. Box 1975, Lewiston, ID 83501.
Her laugh, storytelling and servant life were infectious and she will be greatly missed!
