Katherine Hoene

Katherine Anne Hoene died in the early morning hours of July 9th, 2025, on the third anniversary of her sister Barbara’s death. She had become ill and died two weeks later at St. Vincent Hospital. She was 78 years old.

Katherine was born in Duluth, Minnesota on October 14, 1946, to Howard F. and Anne K. (Kuth) Hoene. She had an older brother, Howard Jr. and eventually was joined by seven more siblings. These were Mary, Josie, Mark, Vera, Art, Barbara, and Lisa. The family moved to Billings, Montana, after Mark was born.

Katherine attended Fratt Memorial School and Billings Central Catholic Highschool. During this time, she was in ballet, played clarinet in the band, and was a majorette. She attended the College of St. Catherine in St. Paul, Minnesota, graduating with a degree in Humanities. She then completed her nursing degree through MSU Bozeman.

She moved to Great Falls and worked as an RN in the hospital there. She met Rod Baranco who became her fiancé. Unfortunately, he injured his spine in a diving accident. Katherine was by his side for several weeks until he died. After Rod’s death, she moved to Arizona. She worked doing home health care for elderly patients, and served as a live-in child caretaker, preparing meals for the family. She also went back to school, and over several years earned master’s degrees in art history and library science. Katherine eventually moved back to Billings in the early 2000’s and lived with her mother until her death.

Katherine was an artist. She did portraits of some of her relatives, landscapes in an impressionistic style, and some other types of painting. She was passionate about her art and was a lifelong learner, showing her exuberance and excitement about life. She enjoyed swimming and golfing, and was a great cook and baker, bringing her delicious special desserts to our family get-togethers. She liked wearing brightly colored clothes for festivities.

Katherine was preceded in death by her parents, Howard and Anne Hoene, her sister Josie, her brother Howie, her brother-in-law Gerd Steckel, her sister Barbara Dahlin Fenter, and brother-in-law Keith Dahlin.

Surviving Katherine are her sister Mary Decker, nephews Paul (Romi) Sillitti and children Luca and Koel, and John Sillitti; brother Mark; sister Vera (Mark) Werner, nephews Edward, Joey (Hayley Rieger), and daughter Emmaline, John (Brooke) and son Emmett, and Will; brother Arthur; sister Lisa Steckel; niece Leah Dahlin Nusse (John) and children Joey and Henry, nephew Eric (Abby) Dahlin and children Issac and Quinn, niece Katie Dahlin, and brother-in-law Paul Fenter.

We are grateful to the nurses and doctors who cared for Katherine in the hospital for making her last days as comfortable as possible.

Katherine will be remembered forever and missed by her family.