Phyllis Patricia Oihus

Phyllis Patricia Maresch Oihus was carried by the angels to heaven on Good Friday, April 22, 2011. Following a brief illness, she passed away peacefully at the age of eighty-one in Fort Myers, Florida surrounded by her loving husband, Art, three of her eight devoted and caring children, Gavin, Bronwyn, and Connor, grandson K.C., and son-in-law Eric. LIFE Phyllis was born on December 27, 1929 in Grafton, North Dakota, the only daughter of Ellen "Nellie" McGuire Maresch and Henry Herman Maresch. She attended Chase Elementary School and Central High School, graduating in 1947. It was on the playground at Chase Elementary where she met and became a life long friend to Hope Johnson Torkelson. Among her other childhood pals was a little white rascal rabbit named "Bupsie." During her high school days, she dreamed of becoming a foreign languages interpreter and to travel around the world. Her after school hours and Saturdays were spent at the Red Owl Grocery Store where she stocked shelves, candled eggs, checked groceries, and enjoyed waiting on the migrant farm workers with whom she happily practiced her Spanish. Phyllis never became a foreign languages interpreter. Instead, she walked down the aisle of St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church on the afternoon of November 24, 1950 and became the wife of Arthur Lincoln Oihus, the charming World War II veteran and Red River Valley farmer who lived across the street. Bearing and raising eight children, Phyllis became a "Domestic Engineer Extraordinaire," and throughout her motherhood, sterilized thousands of baby bottles, hung thousands more of diapers on the clothesline to dry, cooked bushels of porridge, tamed mountains of laundry and ironing, and kept her vacuum cleaner and scrub bucket on red alert. As her children began to leave the nest, she pursued other interests. In ceramics, she honed her artistic skills, and the fruits of this labor of love she bestowed upon family and friends, the lucky few receiving her snow capped twinkling Christmas trees. She earned her driver's license with a nearly perfect score in spite of her fears and inhibitions, and relished the new found freedom she discovered sitting behind the steering wheel of her burgundy Ford Thunderbird. In the kitchen that she loved so well, she often could be found baking sweet goodies like Ginger Cookies, Apple Pies, and Dream Bars, and she gave them away to those in need of a little pick-me-up or those in need of a little recognition, such as the Grafton Police Department. She remained a dedicated Roman Catholic all of her life, and became the first female lay communion distributor for St. John's, a position she embraced with pride, honor, and reverence. FAMILY Those who must now survive without her include her husband of sixty years, a large, loving family of eight children, nine grandchildren, five great-grandchildren, spouses, cousins, and special family friends. Her children and their spouses include: Kevin Oihus and Maureen Greenwood, Colleen and Edward Warner, Erin and John Morgan, Sean Oihus, Gavin Oihus and Eric Cramer, Bronwyn Oihus and Rafael Silva, Connor and Lark Oihus, and Colin Oihus. Her grandchildren and their spouses include: K.C. Oihus, Heather and John Narloch, Blain and Rebecca Oihus, Dane Klein, Maddison Oihus, Ian Oihus, Jack Morgan, Ross Oihus, and Megan Oihus. Her great-grandchildren include: Grace Narloch, Emma Narloch, Stephanie Narloch, Oliver Oihus, and Carter Oihus. Her close cousins include: Betty Hein Almen and Shirley Harris Sandvig. Special family friends include: Marlin Torkelson, Deborah Torkelson Dusek, and Jeffrey Torkelson. Those who have made the trip up to heaven before her include her parents, Nellie and Henry, her older brother Leonard Maresch, and her special friend Hope Torkelson. SERVICES A mass of Christian burial will be held at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church on Monday, May 2, 2011 at 10:30 in the morning with Father Timothy Schroeder officiating. Visitation will be at the Tollefson Funeral Home on Sunday afternoon, May 1, 2011 between the hours of 3pm and 5pm. Interment will be at St. John's Catholic Cemetery. The Tollefson Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. Memorial donations may be made to the Unity Medical Center Foundation, 164 West 13th Street, Grafton, North Dakota 58237.