Natalie Ann Ziegler

Natalie passed from this life to be with her Savior Jesus Christ on January 5, 2022 after a 4 year battle with breast cancer. She was born July 31, 1966 in Garden Grove, CA to Albert Leon “Butch” Stemen & Marilyn Stemen. Her brother Vince was born five years later. She grew up in Mission Viejo, CA and her fondest memories were of being near or on the water. Many days were spent at the beach, boating to Catalina Island, Lake Havasu or Lake Mead. She cherished the time spent with her extended family in California, Texas and Virginia, and in particular adored each of her cousins. She graduated from Mission Viejo High School in 1984.

While at a slumber party at age 16. Natalie accepted Jesus Christ as her Savior. From that point forward she purposed to grow in her faith as a Christian, seeking a good church to attend wherever she moved. At age 18 she married Bryce Wilcox and they subsequently moved to Moscow, Idaho where their son Bailey was born in 1990. A couple years later they moved to the Spokane area, where daughter Nichole was born in 1993. Natalie’s marriage to Bryce ended in 1997.

Natalie desired to complete her college education. While single with two small children, she enrolled in an Organizational Management program at Whitworth College for adults over 30. She daily committed her life into the hands of God, and he provided for her. For over two years she worked nights and went to school. Despite financial challenges, funding in the forms of grants, scholarships and other unlikely places materialized to help her take next steps in her education while meeting needs for her children and herself. She received her BA with honors in 1999.

In the Fall of 1997 she met Neil Ziegler, who was coaching Bailey in soccer. Neil was a young widower with three small children. They discovered they had much in common – both attended Northview Bible Church and their children attended the same school. Neil’s youngest son Cole was only four months younger than Bailey. Natalie & Neil struck up a friendship and after several months a romance blossomed. They were married November 5, 1999, blending their family of 5 children together. At that time, Neil’s oldest child, Dane, was 13 and Erica was 11. Neil’s running joke was “for the first 14 years of our marriage, we had teenagers!”. The process of blending their families brought many challenges and sometimes tears, but they persevered and weathered all parenting storms. Natalie adopted Neil’s three children in 2001. It is a testament to her love & wisdom that all 5 children today are living productive, meaningful lives and they all truly enjoy spending time with each other.

Natalie pursued her relationship with Jesus throughout her adult life, taking many Bible study classes & workshops such as BSF. She read her Bible daily and journaled continually. She went on missions trips to Ethiopia and Mexico with Neil. She volunteered in many capacities at church, kids’ schools and other non-profits such as SRT Services & Life Services, freely gave of her time to mentor many younger women, and co-led a mentoring program at Life Center church that reached several hundred women. She and Neil facilitated several small group discipleship studies.

Natalie is greatly missed by Neil and their large family. She was preceded in death by her father Butch Stemen & her 4 grandparents, and is survived by husband Neil; children Dane (Ingrid) Ziegler, Erica (Jon) Schwab, Cole (Lorna) Ziegler, Bailey Wilcox, Nichole (Tanden) Launder; 8 precious grandchildren: Redd, Greta, Hazel, Jackson, Grady, Millie, Ronx and Lux; her mother Marilyn Stemen; brother Vince (Kirstin) Stemen and their children Emma, Eve & Noah. She adored her grandchildren and was in the delivery room at most of their births.

A memorial service for Natalie will be held at Life Center Church, 1202 N Government Way, Spokane WA at 11:00AM on Saturday, January 22, 2022. Due to Covid concerns there will be no reception at this time, however the church has ample space for social distancing during the service so please attend if you are able. The service will be live streamed as well. For a link please visit www.ballanddodd.com on the day of the service. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to Kvinna Scholarship Fund (kvinnacare.com), the Union Gospel Mission (uniongospelmission.org), or a charity of your choice.