Amber Schiller

Amber Lynn (Hoyhtya) Schiller, 37, of Crookston, MN, passed away peacefully at home Saturday morning, January 27, 2018.

Amber was born July 17, 1980, in Crookston, MN, to Emil “Moe” and Nancy (Vigness) Hoyhtya.  Amber would call Crookston home for all of her early years.  Amber was a happy, outgoing, always on the go child, who made friends with everyone she met.  Amber worked at Happy Joe’s during High School where she made many lifelong friends.  Amber graduated from Crookston High School in 1998. Following high school Amber would begin college at UND where she made many memories with friends at the Conference Center and through her membership in the Delta Delta Delta Sorority. Amber would then continue her education at UMC where she would earn her degree in early childhood education. While attending UMC Amber would meet the love of her life, her husband Adam, during her last year of college in 2004. The couple would be united in marriage two years later at Trinity Lutheran Church in Crookston, MN, on September 16, 2006. Amber had an enormous heart for children and loved being able to guide and teach them through the years, where this would shine through on her journey with the numerous positions she would accept, starting first as a teacher at United Day Nursery in Grand Forks, ND, following graduation at UMC. Amber and Adam would then move as a couple to Foley, MN where they purchased their first home and Amber continued her passion for children as a teacher and later co-director at TLC Childcare. In 2011, Amber and Adam moved back to Crookston where Amber was a teacher at Tri-Valley Head Start, before returning to United Day Nursery where she would be the lead director, later, once again, returning to Tri-Valley Head Start as a teacher and then accepting the position as director. After several years in Crookston, Amber and Adam would move to their dream house, just outside of Crookston, to continue the farm they had started a few years earlier in 2015. There they would spend many heart-felt hours as a couple remodeling, and shaping their house, into a home for themselves and their three beautiful children, Addisyn, Ariana, and Aiden. Amber had spent the last 8 months at home taking care of their three children as well as helping Adam in any way he needed on the farm.  Most recently Amber was excited to get back to working with children and was preparing for an interview she had scheduled for this week.

Amber was a member of the Trinity Lutheran Church in Crookston, MN, as well as the Crookston Early Childhood Initiative. To go along with her love for children, Amber enjoyed spending time in her garden and working both inside and out on their home. Amber was an incredibly crafty person and she had a real eye for decorating. She enjoyed the lake and all the fun it brought along with it, whether it be boating, camping, or fishing, especially enjoying time at their camper at Summer Haven Resort on Gull Lake. Amber also expressed a great love for animals, not only her own dogs (Bear, Tucker, & Ace), but any animal she may have encountered that would need some nursing back to health. However, with all joys and loves Amber had in the world, there was none stronger than those as a wife to Adam, a mother to Addisyn, Ariana, and Aiden, and a big sister to Brian. Amber touched so many lives and will be missed so dearly by those she had the opportunity to meet.

Amber is survived in passing by her loving husband, Adam; three beautiful children, Addisyn Lyn, Ariana Janae, and Aiden Emiric.  Also surviving Amber is her brother and sister-in-law, Brian & Tiffany Hoyhtya of Crookston, MN; her parents-in-law, Richard and Jackie Schiller of Norwood Young Am, MN;  sister-in-law, Molly, and nephew and nieces, Riley, Karley & Hailey, all of Eyota, MN; grandfather, Les Vigness; as well as many aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, students, and co-workers.  Preceding Amber in passing are her parents, Emil “Moe” and Nancy Hoyhtya; grandparents Ernest and Hulda Hoyhtya; grandmother Lois Vigness; great-grandmother Thelma Bendickson; and several aunts and uncles.

A funeral service will be held to honor Amber’s life, Monday, February 5, 2018, at 10:30am at Trinity Lutheran Church in Crookston, MN. A visitation and prayer service will be held the night before, Sunday, February 4, 2018, at Trinity Lutheran Church in Crookston, MN. Visitation with the family will be from 4:00pm-7:30pm, with the prayer service to follow at 7:30pm. Burial will take place at Oakdale Cemetery in Crookston, MN following the service.  Pastor Gregory Isaacson will be presiding. In lieu of flowers, the family wishes you please send donations to be set aside for Amber and Adam’s children.