The Creator took our beautiful Mandi to the other side on April 25, 2010, at 10:57 a.m. Mandi was only 35 years old but suffered a high blood pressure related brain aneurism during the evening of April 24, 2010.

Her brain injury would have been immediately fatal were it not for the quick action of her brave 13-year-old daughter, Julia, who was with her at the time. Upon transfer via a mercy flight to Great Falls, her physical body was able to provide the donation of her liver to a 47-year-old man in San Francisco.

Mandi Marie Chriske was born at 6:29 p.m. on Jan. 30, 1975. She was the first child born to James and Julie Chriske. She was, in fact, named for the Barry Manilow song and an aunt, Marie Elyse Ingersoll, who died in infancy. Mandi was born into a loving partnership and loved hard throughout her life; sometimes to a fault. She was a happy, humorous child who learned quickly to read. Her passion for books remained a mainstay through all her days on this earth. She adored her baby sister and brother’s entry into the family and never expressed the sibling rivalry I had read so much about in parenting books; at least not until she reached puberty.

Mandi was a left-handed girl with a deep spirituality. She could see angels when she was a toddler. Her life’s work involved studying nursing and working as a caregiver to elderly and disabled people. Her years of work at the Farm in the Dell, and the Domestic Violence Coalition were some of the most fulfilling times in her life. She also worked as a podiatrist assistant, which likely helped her to define her desire to study nursing. She studied at Hawthorne and Jim Darcy Elementary schools, C.R. Anderson Middle School, Capital High School, the Vo-Tech and the University of Montana.

Mandi trusted easily and loved deeply. She was creative and understood beautiful music and art. She played violin for many years and loved to sing. She read voraciously, crocheted and did cross-stitch embroidery. Her musical tastes ran from classical and Gregorian chant to current artists. She loved Josh Groban, Parachute, Maroon 5, Vivaldi and the Barenaked Ladies. She was often told she looked like Drew Barrymore. She was beautiful but never accepted she was; she had strong survival skills but had difficulty trusting herself. Her laugh was strong and infectious. Her sense of humor was luscious.

Above all she adored her baby girl, Julia Savannah. She blessed her mother and stepmother by naming her daughter using derivatives of their names. Mandi always wanted to give her daughter the best of life; as a family we will work to ensure that all things are possible, with the Creator’s help.

She is survived by her beloved daughter, Julia Savannah Chriske Rowlan; her mother, Julie Ingersoll Gardipee Chriske; her stepmother, Sanna Yost; her father, James Chriske, and stepmother, Hedy Westberg; and her sister, Amy Chriske Hall, and her brother-in-law, Shane Hall. Her nephews, Jordan Chriske Hall and Taylor Chriske Hall were her pride and joy. She is also survived by aunts and uncles, Mary and Daryl Tulberg, Don and Pam Chriske, and Patti and Randy Dahlstrom; cousins, Kim and Adolf Timm and Bailey, Titus, Lyric and Sam Weis, Casey, David and Melissa Clark, and Delores Strom; cousins David Tulberg, Rachael Bouldin, Chad and Michelle Wilson; her grandmother, Betty Ingersoll; grandmother, Marlene Kovash; grandfather and stepgrandma, Dr. Robert and Norita Yost;  aunts and uncles, Kelly Harper, Robin and the Rev. Mark Pederson, Penny and Mike Adams, and Rich Kovash and Rochelle Ober; cousins, Noel and Paul and Noel Pederson, Alison and Brooke Adams, and JT and Tucker Harper; aunts and uncles, Colleen and Herf Ingersoll; cousins Dan, Vicky, Scott and Todd Ingersoll, Janet Ingersoll, Ronnie, Linda, Chase and Dusty Ingersoll; and Daniel Rowlan, Julia’s father.

She was met on the other side by her grandpas Heinz Chriske, Richard Kovash, Eric Wilson and Clyde Gardipee Harris; her grandmothers, Genevieve Chriske, Alma Wilson and Alice Stow Ingersoll; her aunties Mary “Mitza” Tursich, Beverly Ingersoll and Lenore Marshall; uncle Milton Ingersoll; and her only brother, Samuel Jackson Chriske.