Math A Gross

Math A. Gross, 92, passed away at St. Alexius Medical Center, Bismarck, Tuesday night, July 2, after a brief but courageous battle with cancer. Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10:30 a.m., Monday, July 8, at Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, Bismarck. Burial will be in the North Dakota Veterans Cemetery, Mandan. Visitation will be held at 4:00 pm – 8:00 pm Sunday, July 7, at Parkway Funeral Service, 2330 Tyler Parkway, Bismarck, where a rosary/vigil will begin at 7:00 pm. Visitation will continue one hour prior to the service at the church. Math was born on April 30, 1921, the youngest of 10 children, to Raphael and Mary Anna Feist Gross and raised on a farm south of Napoleon, ND. He attended a small, rural elementary school, then Napoleon High School, where he graduated in 1940. Following his graduation, he attended the Interstate Business College in Fargo, ND. Afterward, he worked as a bookkeeper at the First National Bank in Mandan, then took training at the Aviation Industry in Wichita, KA, where he learned airplane riveting and assembly. Math returned to ND and worked on a farm with a brother and brother in law for 2 years. In 1944, he was inducted into the US Army, took basic training at Camp Roberts in CA and served in the final months of the war in the Philippine Islands. He was awarded the Asiatic-Pacific Theater Ribbon with 2 Bronze Stars, the Philippine Liberation Ribbon and the Second World War Victory Medal for his service. Throughout the remainder of his life, he had vivid recollections of his time spent there. After the war, Math served as a recruitment officer for the army in Bismarck until 1946. Math married his high school sweetheart, Maggie Kambeitz on January 28, 1946. They had four children, Richard Elizabeth, Jean Eaton Bryce, Stephen Tais and Gerald Donna. He has six grandchildren, Amber, David, Matthew, Amanda, Emily and Alexandra and three great-grandchildren, Laiken, Aurora and Gisele Gross. Uniquely, Math and Maggie were each the youngest of ten children of the Gross and Kambeitz families, and four children from the Gross family married four from the Kambeitz family. At the end of 1946, Math and Maggie returned to Napoleon, where Math worked for 3 years as bookkeeper for Wentz Implement, Furniture and Hardware. In January of 1950, he began work as a rural mail carrier, which he performed until January of 1980. During those years, Math was active in the American Legion and Knights of Columbus and became a lifetime member of each. He was an original member of the Logan County Nursing Home and instrumental in organizing the Logan County Historical Museum and the Napoleon Ambulance Service. After retirement, Math and Maggie moved to Bismarck and, during their many years in Bismarck, were active volunteers for several non-profit and charitable organizations, including St. Alexius Hospital, the Bismarck Veterans Memorial Library, Meals on Wheels and the Democratic Party. Math was skilled at ornamental penmanship and enjoyed music all his life. He was self-taught on guitar, piano, organ and accordion. He enjoyed researching his ancestry and remembered and shared many memories and stories from the past. Preceding Math in death were his wife, Maggie, his parents and his 9 siblings: Anton, Margaret Mitzel, Alois, Rose Piatz, Phillipine, Raphael, Leo, Elizabeth Kambeitz and Bertha Kambeitz. The family requests that, in lieu of flowers, memorials may be given to Marillac Manor, where Math spent that last 3 years of his life.

Math A Gross

April 30, 1921 - July 2, 2013