MaryAnn Schenfisch

Makoti

MaryAnn (Knudson) Schenfisch was born November 23, 1934, in Makoti, North Dakota, to John “Jack” and Jeanette (Bonde) Knudson at her Grandma Mary’s home. MaryAnn grew up on the Knudson family farm, 10 miles southwest of Makoti, where she attended Mountrail School No. 11. She graduated from Makoti High School in 1952.

MaryAnn attended Minot State College where she graduated from Teachers’ College and taught for one year at Hiddenwood School #2, in a one-room schoolhouse, before she married. She married her beloved Wilmar Edward Schenfisch on October 11, 1953, at Hope Lutheran Church in Makoti. Wilmar and MaryAnn celebrated over sixty-seven years of marriage together. The couple raised their 5 children on their family farm one mile from her childhood home.

Active in her community, MaryAnn was a devout member of the St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, where she served as the first female deacon of the congregation, taught Sunday School, and was a member of the Ladies’ Aid. She was a member of Mountrail Homemakers and Makoti American Legion Auxiliary. She loved community dances, enjoyed playing piano with her family, and always knew the words to popular dance tunes.

MaryAnn had a generous heart and volunteered for years at the Parshall/Rockview Nursing Home styling residents’ hair. She worked as a hospice volunteer assisting patients. In her lifetime, MaryAnn donated over 15 gallons of blood to the American Red Cross. She was a seamstress, homemaker, and well-known for baking delicious buns and rolls. MaryAnn always had an extra plate of food for delivery to people who ended up at the family farm close to dinner time.

In 1998, MaryAnn and Wilmar moved off their farm and into Makoti. In November 2014, they moved to Edgewood Assisted Living in Minot, ND. MaryAnn Schenfisch, 89, formerly of Makoti, North Dakota died in Minot Edgewood Assisted Living on Monday, August 12, 2024. A loving and devoted wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, MaryAnn was preceded in death by her husband, Wilmar Schenfisch; parents, John and Jeanette Knudson; brother-in-law, Robert “Bud” Hauff; and sister-in-law, Sharon Knudson.

She is survived by her children Monty (Gina) of Makoti, Dean (Lanette) of Makoti, Joel (Gail) of Casper, WY, Bryon (Sheilah) of Minot, and Patty (Dwight) Johnson of Roseglen; grandchildren, Amber (Chance) Haugen, Dustin (Heather), Cason (Crystal), Tanner, Mark and Anna Schenfisch, Jennifer (Keith) Karow, LaTasha (Justin) Lantry, Angie (Rob) Nagle, Heather (Carl) Riemer, Megan (John) Engeseth, Aaron Johnson; and great-grandchildren, Quinn, Easton, Clay, Tatum, Crosby, Emy, Letty, Rowan, Pierce, Eldin, George, Faith, Hannah, Claire, and Shane; step-great-grandchildren, Keelah, Hutch, and Nelson; siblings, Joleen Hauff of Minot, Jack Knudson of Cheyenne, WY, and Kenneth (Joann) Knudson of Mesa, AZ.

The family would like to thank the Edgewood Staff for their loving and compassionate care.

Funeral: Saturday, August. 17, 2024, at 11 a.m. at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, Makoti. Visitation: Friday, August. 16, 2024, from 1-5 p.m. at Langhans Funeral Home, Parshall. Interment: St. Paul Lutheran Church Cemetery, Makoti. In place of flowers, memorials are preferred to the donor’s choice. www.langhansfuneralhome.com.

Published by The Minot Daily News, August 15, 2024.