Memory of her father inspires GFH's Feisthamel

LynDee Feisthamel is among the most active and involved high school students in Great Falls, with her activities always helping to brighten the day.

But, she recalls, certain days during elementary school that were especially dark.

“Daddy-daughter days,” she said. “My mom did a great job of taking care of Nic and I. But my dad, he’s not there. And you can’t ever have that again.”

Richard Feisthamel died 13 years ago at age 55. He worked for the Montana Department of Transportation and lived with his family in Belt.

The former U.S. Marine was a veteran of the Vietnam War.

“He was affected by Agent Orange,” LynDee said. “He had heart problems. My remembrances of him were that he was never healthy. I knew him at the end of his life. But I have a lot of very good memories of my dad.

“I was young, but I do remember quite a bit. And I miss him a lot. It was sad. Very rough. My mother talks about him often.”

LynDee was born in Great Falls but grew up in Belt. She attended East Middle School. Now the Great Falls High senior is known among many friends for her cheerful attitude and sunny disposition.

She’s involved in basketball, cross country, golf and track, and will finish her high school career with 11 varsity letters.

She also carries a perfect 4.0 grade-point average.

“It’s important to me,” she said. “I strive to be as good as I can. Knowing that I can get a 4.0, that’s what I want to do.”

She plans to attend the University of Montana next fall and hopes to become a pharmacist.

LynDee, 18, said the medical field also has appealed to her.

“I like to help people,” she said. “I like to see people happy. If I can do something to make them happy, it makes me happy.”

LynDee lives with her mother, LeAnn Galt Feisthamel, and brother, Nic, a 19-year-old who is in the United States Marines. Just like their father.

Politics and the story of soldiers these days can be controversial. But not for LynDee.

“I’m for sure just proud of everything our soldiers have done and what they stand for,” she said. “I’m very proud of our military.”

The year after her dad died, LynDee and Nic were enrolled in Camp Francis, the Benefis Hospice Children’s Bereavement Program.

“Kids learn to cope with their grief in a healthy way,” she said.

A healthy, active lifestyle is certainly her goal. The list of her activities is long.

She’s on the student council at Great Falls High, duties that include being the treasurer. The council plans proms and other school functions; this Christmas the group plans to go caroling. She was a candidate for Homecoming royalty. She’s a lifeguard.

LynDee was a dancer and a musician who played the piano, saxophone and recorder. How about the choir?

“I can’t sing,” she said. “Definitely not the choir.”

That’s a rare omission from her cache of talents.

“Dance was one of my very favorite things, and I miss it a lot,” she said. “But I ran out of time.”

She’s running most of the time after school.

She’s a guard on the basketball team and ran the three-mile course with the Bison cross country team in the fall while at the same time competing in golf for GFH. In the spring, she’s a sprinter-hurdler in track.

“I attempted pole vault for a while and was on the relay teams,” she said. “Just wherever they need me. I think we figured out last year there’s maybe two track races I have not run in my high school career. One is the open 400, which I will probably do this year, and then the mile.”

Her life is filled with academics and volunteer work. And sports.

“Sports is pretty big,” she said. “I’ve been involved since first grade. They take up most of my time, for sure.”

Days off, apparently, are not an option.

“I wouldn’t know what to do with spare time,” she said. “I guess because I’ve been so involved since such a young age that’s just how it’s always been.”

LynDee volunteers in her spare time. She works as a teen counselor at Camp Francis. She helps with day camps, Christmas parties and anything else that requires help.

She’s a member of the First Presbyterian Church, where she’s involved in the youth group.

“My faith is very important,” LynDee said. “And my church family is very important. I love them very, very much.”

Her work with Camp Francis is important.

“I like working with kids,” she said. And then she laughed. “It can be difficult at times. But when you create a bond with them, they tend to cling to you and listen to you. It’s a really rewarding thing to be involved in, knowing that I’m helping them like I was helped when I was young.”

Her schedule doesn’t leave much time for partying.

“I don’t have enough time,” she said. “And I don’t want to put myself in a situation where I can get myself or others in trouble. It’s not in my interests.”

She does not want to disappoint her mother.

“Or myself,” LynDee said.

It’s likely her father would be proud.

“I think about him pretty often,” she said. “Especially now since I’m getting toward the end of my high school career. I’m wishing he were here for different things.”

An avid hunter, LynDee spent a lot of time in the Little Belt Mountains this fall. It’s where her senior pictures were taken. And where her father’s ashes were scattered years ago.

“It was his favorite place,” she said. “It’s a special place for me.”

Thanksgiving, of course, is a time for family. LynDee will be with hers this day.

“Without my mother, I’d be nothing,” LynDee said. “And everything I do, I’m trying to make her proud. And my dad, too.”