STELLA MARIE HEGSTAD

Stella Radke Hegstad was born on May 21, 1929, in Granum, Alberta, Canada, to Minnie and Gustav Radke. She passed away on January 17, 2026, in Loma Linda, California. Stella’s early years took her from Canada to Portland, Oregon, where she lived from 1937 to 1949. She attended Pacific Union Academy in Portland from 1943 to 1947, serving as Senior Class President, and later studied at Walla Walla College in College Place, Washington, from 1947 to 1948. She and Roland Hegstad married in 1949, a real-life love story that continued nearly 69 years until Roland's death in 2018. As a young couple in Seventh-day Adventist pastoral ministry, Stella and Roland began their work in Ephrata and Clarkston, Washington. As Roland's writing and editorial capabilities developed, they moved to Nashville, Tennessee, where Roland became book editor at the Adventist Publishing house, from 1954 to 1959. Called to edit Liberty Magazine for the Washington, DC-based General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, Roland served in that role till his retirement in 1994. The family lived in Takoma Park, then Spencerville, Maryland, where Stella lived till 2020. A bout of Covid pneumonia and declining health then led Stella to move to Loma Linda, California, to be nearer to son Douglas and daughter Sheri. During her more than five years at EnjoyCare-Pecan, Stella often proclaimed, "I don't have a thing wrong with me. I feel perfectly fine." Like many in the family, Stella had a natural gift for numbers and organization. She put that talent to lasting use as a bookkeeper at Johnson’s Nursery, the well-known floral center on Wisconsin Avenue in Washington, DC. The Johnson family came to rely deeply on her integrity, precision, and judgment, entrusting her with key aspects of the company’s finances. She continued in this role through the nursery’s expansion into Gaithersburg, Maryland, and remained with the company until her retirement in 1999. She also served faithfully for many years as bookkeeper for the Spencerville Seventh-day Adventist Church. Stella considered her family her most important work. She raised three children—Douglas (born 1953), Sheri (born 1954), and Kimberly (born 1965). She also loved and celebrated her five grandchildren: Elizabeth, David, Chloe, Allison and Juliana. Throughout the growth of the family, Stella assured the steady infrastructure that allowed her husband, a minister and editor, to pursue his calling. He authored a dozen books and served repeatedly as commencement speaker for their son’s graduations, including from medical school—achievements Stella quietly supported through her organization, encouragement, and tireless reliability. Organized and friendly, Stella was also deeply hospitable. She regularly opened her home to church study groups, at times welcoming as many as 80 guests for meals. Her faith was central to her life; she believed in the imminent return of Christ and held a steadfast hope of being reunited in paradise with her husband and children. Stella’s practical creativity showed itself when it was needed. She developed the plans for the family home built on a two-acre lot in Spencerville, Maryland, working from drawings she carefully adapted herself. Long before GPS or interstate highways, she served as her husband’s navigator on cross-country speaking trips. And while she never claimed to be a gourmet cook, she mastered a beloved collection of signature dishes, including her double-crusted apple pie, Scotch oat cakes, yellow curry, popovers, and rice casserole. Stella Hegstad will be remembered for her faith, her competence, her generosity, and the quiet strength with which she held together family, church, and community. In subtle ways, her influence continues. Son Douglas observes, "That still small internal voice of conscience that sometimes admonishes and sometimes encourages is my mother's voice. It is a continuing comfort and guide." Stella will be deeply missed by all who knew and loved her.

STELLA MARIE HEGSTAD

May 21, 1929 - January 17, 2026