Maureen B. Graden

Maureen Bridget O'Neil Graden, 95, peacefully passed January 6, 2015, at CHI St. Alexius Hospital, Bismarck. Services will be held 10:30 AM, Wednesday, January 14, at Church of the Ascension Catholic Church, Bismarck, with Msgr. James Braaten officiating. Burial will be held at the Beulah Cemetery, Beulah, at 3 PM CST. Visitation will be held from 5:00 to 7:00 PM on Tuesday at Parkway Funeral Service, 2330 Tyler Parkway, Bismarck, with a prayer service and rosary to follow at 7:00 PM. Visitation will continue one hour prior to the service at the church. Maureen was born January 3, 1920, to Emmet and Margaret McGuire O'Neil, in a garage in Dunn Center, ND. She was the only girl and the last survivor of five children including Red, Owen, Patrick, Maureen and Norman Peg. Maureen attended 1st grade at Dickinson Elementary, 2nd to 8th grade at Connolly Elementary and 9th grade at Dunn Center Elementary. She graduated from Beulah High School in 1938. Maureen's favorite subjects were history and reading which continued throughout her life. She was an avid reader, gardener, baker, crocheter, crossword puzzle expert and master scrabble player in spite of battling corneal dystrophy. Maureen felt blessed to have travelled to Ireland and have lived in the Middle East. She enjoyed visiting and solving the world's problems with her longtime friends, especially Margery and Frances. Maureen met Alphons Graden Fons while both were working at the Connolly's ranch near Dunn Center. Their first date was to see the movie "Gone with the Wind" even though she had already seen it which she conveniently did not tell him. They were married September 9, 1941. Fons and Maureen spent most of their married life living in Beulah. Upon Fons' retirement in 1974, they moved to Flasher. Maureen moved to Bismarck in 2005 living in her own apartment until her death. Maureen and Fons had seven children, thirteen grandchildren and twenty-five great-grandchildren. She is survived by Erin Victor, Norman Faye, Dale Terry, Midge George, Joan Ahmad, and Ruth Fred. She was preceded in death by her husband, Alphons; infant son, John; grandson, Salah Al-Absy; and great-grandson, Bradley Turnidge. Maureen was a grace filled woman who had a deep faith in Jesus Christ and trusted in the Virgin Mary for strength, guidance and intercession. She considered herself a simple woman: "I was born. I lived. I died."

Maureen B. Graden

January 3, 1920 - January 6, 2015