Aurora Sue Weythman (nee Lyman) was born in Soldotna, Alaska on March 27, 1993, to Spencer and Carolyn Lyman. Spencer and Carolyn were mining at their home in Snow Gulch while pregnant with Aurora but stayed in Soldotna at the invitation of their good friend, Wild Bill Michel for her birth. Afterwards, they returned home to Snow Gulch, where Aurora spent her childhood.
When Aurora was five, her little sister and best friend, lcey, was born. Growing up at Snow Gulch with her mom, dad, and sister was paradise. Her parents gave her the best childhood imaginable. In the summers they mined, and Aurora ran free in the mud and the tundra, playing with lcey and Misty May Agoff, their best friend. In the winter, they were homeschooled and sometimes went on long RV trips in the Lower 48, which gave Aurora her life-long loves of learning and travel. Most importantly, her parents taught her about God. When she was four years old, she decided to follow Jesus and accepted him into her heart. It was the most important decision of her life and shaped everything that came after.
She graduated with her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Walla Walla University in 2015. Her first R.N. job was in Nome, Alaska. For the next three years, she made her home there. The friends she made in Nome constituted a second family, and both the land and the work consumed her in the best possible way.
Then she met Thane Weythman, and he blew her mind. She'd never met another person with his integrity, love of God, or outlook on life. She fell in love with him, and they married on July 23, 2020. He had three children - Raiden, Ernie, and Reese, and they were amazing. They were also willing to let Aurora be their stepmom. Being their stepmom was the most wonderful, important, and best thing that ever happened to Aurora. If nothing else in her life mattered, these things did -first, that she was a child of God, and secondly, that Raiden, Ernie, and Reese were her children.
Aurora moved to Aniak, Alaska, where she spent three wonderful years with her new family, and settled into her new life of homeschooling, running a household, and helping Thane manage his existing businesses.
In 2022, the family moved to Belt, Montana to be closer to family and to give the children more opportunities than could be found in the Bush. Belt proved to be a wonderful landing place for them all. Aurora worked part-time as a nurse in the behavioral health department of Benefis Hospital and enjoyed her work and lovely coworkers very much. The family got many new pets - ducks, dogs, goats, cats, and cattle - that gave Aurora great joy.
Unfortunately, Aurora was diagnosed with advanced cancer the same year they moved. Her husband and kids cared for her until the end, taking wonderful care of her, even when it was incredibly difficult. To Aurora's great joy, her parents moved next door and also gave her wonderful care through the last years of her life.
Aurora knew throughout her life that God loved her and had a plan, and that conviction did not fade with illness. He held her in His hand, as He always had, and it was clear to her that every stage of illness brought with it lessons and further proofs that God was looking out for her. While she wishes her family could be spared the grief of her illness and passing, Aurora has no greater wish than to see God - a wish now fulfilled - and she is happy.
She was preceded in death by her grandparents. Paternally, by Robert Fisk and Elizabeth Tuttle Lyman. Maternally, by Leonard Keith and Beverly Sue Kidd.
She is survived by her husband of six years, Thane Allen Weythman; her children Raiden Jacob, Ernest Oliver, and Reese Collins; her parents, Spencer Williamson and Carolyn Sue Motherway Lyman; her sister and beloved brother-in-law, lcey Caralee and Charles James Miles; as well as many other cherished family and friends.
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