Frank DeFea

Frank DeFea, 99, Dickinson, died Sunday, January 4, 2004, at St. Benedict?s Health Center, Dickinson. Mass of Christian Burial is 1 p. m. Saturday, January 31, 2004, at St. Wenceslaus Catholic Church, Dickinson, with Fr. James Braaten, celebrating. . Interment will be in St. Joseph?s Cemetery, Dickinson. Visitation is Friday, January 30, 2004, at Price-Murphy Funeral Home from 9 a. m. to 9 p. m. with a rosary and prayer service at 7 p. m. Frank DeFea was born Aug 8, 1904, in Hankinson, ND to Peter and Catherine (Hemerling) DeFea. Frank?s parents immigrated to Hankinson from Hamburg Germany in 1905. He moved to Dickinson in 1921, after graduating from high school to attended Dickinson State Teachers College for two years. Frank taught rural elementary school. for five years. On October 22, 1928, he married Lena Miller in Dickinson. They had three children John, Francis and Elaine. They farmed for several years south of Belfield. After selling the farm, they worked several jobs including owning and operating the Painted Canyon Resort, until it burned in 1947. Frank and Lena also operated the restaurant in the Western Livestock Company of Dickinson for 25 years until their retirement. Lena died on Aug 29, 1981. In 1983, Frank married Mary Oukrup. She died in 1997. Frank is survived by: one son, Francis, Temecula, Calif. , one daughter, Elaine, (Jack) Allen, Anaconda, Mont. ; one sister, Mary, Edina, Minn. ; eight grandchildren, twelve great-grandchildren, ten great-great grandchildren; one daughter-in-law, Maxine (DeFea) Stewart, Roseburg, Ore. and numerous nieces, nephews. He was preceded in death by: his parents, Peter and Catherine, two wives, Lena and Mary, one son, John, six brothers, three sisters and one grandson, Dick DeFea.


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Burial Date: January 31, 2004
Funeral Home Dickinson, ND

Funeral Mass: Saturday, St. Wenceslaus Catholic Church