Joan Elizabeth Knauf Ryan

Joan Elizabeth Knauf Ryan

Joan Elizabeth Knauf Ryan, 86, passed away peacefully at home on Friday, March 2, 2012 surrounded by her eight children. She was born on November 28, 1925 in Fargo, ND to John and Adelaide Knauf.

Joan attended St. Michael's School, Grand Forks Central High School and the University of North Dakota where she was a member of the Alpha Phi Sorority. At age 16, Joan met her future husband, Thomas Warren Ryan, Sr. of Minneapolis, MN. They were married upon Tom's return from WWII at St. Michael's Church on May 25, 1946.

Joan was devoted to her husband, Tom, and to raising their family of eight children. Ryan family summers were spent at their lake cabin, enjoying the beauty and tranquility of Lake of the Woods in Morson, Ontario, Canada. Joan was an avid outdoors-woman who loved fishing and hunting. During the cold Grand Forks winters, she and Tom retreated to their home in sunny Mazatlan, Sinaloa, Mexico.

Joan was a devout Roman Catholic and a past member of the Altar Societies of St. Mary's, Holy Family, and St. Michael's Churches.

She is survived by her eight children: Kathryn (Stephen) Higgins; Patricia (Ronald) Crawford; Sally (Douglas) Eustice; Gail (Robert) Carlsen; Jane Ryan; Thomas Ryan, Jr. (fiancée Lenaye Driscoll); Mary (Gary) Machak and Joan (Ernest) Mangino; twenty-two grandchildren: Stephen, Brooke (Allen) and Patrick Higgins; Ryan and Celeste (Stein) Henson; Kelly (Tandler), Ryan and Shannon Eustice; Maya (Chain) Carlsen; Shanna, Lindsay, Christopher and Shelby Alfred; Molly (Wild), Kathleen and Thomas Ryan III; Michael, Nicholas and Megan Machak; Michael, Dominic and Anthony Mangino; thirteen great-grandchildren: Connor, Chase and Anna Higgins; Grace and Cooper Allen; Evelyn Higgins; Kaylee and Maya Henson; Ava Stein; Sean and Beau Tandler; Caitlin and Breanne Eustice.

She is also survived by her sister, Donna Bach and her two brothers, Dr. John Knauf and Dr. James Knauf.

Joan was preceded in death by her husband, Thomas, on August 19, 2001 and her parents.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to St. Michael's Catholic Church, 520 6th St. N, Grand Forks, ND 58203; St. Gianna's Maternity Home, 15605 County Rd. 15, Minto, ND 58261 or Altru's Hospice, 1380 S. Columbia Rd. Grand Forks, ND 58201

Mass of Christian Burial: 10:00 a.m. Monday, March 5, 2012, in St. Michael's Catholic Church, Grand Forks, ND.

Visitation: 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. Sunday, March 4, 2012, with a 7:00 p.m. rosary service followed by a vigil service in the Gregory J. Norman Funeral Chapel. Visitation will continue for one hour prior to the liturgy in the church on Monday.

Burial: Calvary Cemetery North, Grand Forks, ND, immediately following the Funeral Mass.

The online memorial registry may be signed at www.normanfuneral.com

(Gregory J. Norman-Norman Funeral Home, So. Washington St. Grand Forks, ND.)

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