Surrounded by the love, prayers, and presence of her family throughout her final days, Evon J. Praus passed away in the comfort of her home on the family ranch south of Dickinson, ND on Wednesday September 14, 2022 at 6:44 p.m., after a brief second battle with cancer. Evon’s Celebration of Life Service will be at 10 a.m., Saturday, September 24, 2022 at Ladbury Funeral Service, Dickinson. Interment will take place at St. Joseph’s Cemetery, Dickinson. Visitation will be from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Friday at Ladbury Funeral Service and will continue at 8 a.m. until service time on Saturday.
Evon Josephine (Igard) Praus, eldest daughter of Ella Gertrude (Swenning) Igard and John Ingvald Igard, was born in a small homestead house in rural Regent, ND on Thanksgiving day, November 26, 1931. When she was about four years old, her family moved to Richardton after her father got a job with the railroad. They lived there until Evon was in the fourth grade; she was one of the few protestant students who attended catholic school there, a memorable experience of which she shared many stories. After her father purchased his childhood family farm, they moved back to Regent, ND and Evon attended rural country schools and subsequently graduated from Gladstone High School in May, 1950. Evon earned a Teaching Certificate from Dickinson State Teachers College and taught at the Wild Rose Country School until 1958.
She married her soulmate, Jerome T. Praus, and they loved and nurtured their four daughters. As a young married couple, they opened their home for several years to younger siblings who attended school in Dickinson. In addition to being a wonderful homemaker, Evon could operate any farm equipment and worked side by side with Jerome in the field and ranch. They were a formidable team, who accomplished all tasks and solved every problem together. They forgave others, when most people would not. Evon missed Jerome dearly after he passed and always looked forward to meeting him again in heaven.
Evon was a devoted wife, mother, sister, friend, and a favorite aunt to many. Having a wonderful sense of humor and an outgoing personality, life was always more fun around her. She enjoyed playing card games (especially whist and pinochle), telling jokes, and loved meeting new people. An excellent cook and baker, Evon appreciated exchanging recipes with family and friends and used her creativity to make specialty cut out cakes and other delicious treats for relative’s birthdays and special occasions. Proud of her Norwegian heritage, she felt especially close to her father and paternal grandmother, Martha (Alme) Igard Froslee, and often told stories about the time she spent with them, in particular how she and her father enjoyed her grandma’s sugar and molasses cookies, and sandbakkels, a recipe she cherished and loved to make for company. Evon was a member of the Homemakers Club of ‘69 and the Dickinson Elks Club; she supported the Anne Carlsen Center for Children, Crippled Children’s Foundation, Edith Sandford Cancer Center, and Easter Seals.
Empathetic and kind hearted, Evon was loved by all who met her and she devoted a majority of her life to helping others, including her mother-in-law, for whom she provided 24 hour care for a couple of years, missing family events in doing so. Always trying to do the right thing, Evon helped secure homes for her and Jerome’s siblings, maintained livestock for her mother and mother-in-law, and provided comfort to friends, family, and strangers in need, always finding the most positive and consoling words. She had a remarkable memory and could recall intricate details of everyone she knew or even recently met; this allowed her to always find a common relative or friend when speaking with a new acquaintance and she could trace how people in the communities where she resided were related or connected. As a consequence of this unique ability, Evon was a fabulous storyteller and family historian, rare qualities which will be greatly missed.
She is survived by her four daughters, Junella (Lyle) Remmich-Wilen, Jerrilynn Hecker-Farland, Merralee (David) Morse, and Kimberly (Paul) Chapman; grandchildren, Ryley Remmich, Kacey (Kaycee) Wilen, Kaelynn Hecker, Melissa (Blake) Rosenfeldt, Jessica Morse (fiancé Paul Suess), Tyler Chapman, and Brittani Chapman; great-grandchildren Gavin and Rebecca Rosenfeldt, Gunner and Penelope Wilen; and one sister (Bertha Klein). She is preceded in death by her husband, parents, sister (Martha Monke), brother (Vernon Igard), sons-in-law (Reginald Hecker and Darrell Farland), grandparents, and many aunts, uncles, and cousins.
In lieu of flowers, donations to the Anne Carlsen Center for Children in Jamestown, North Dakota would be appreciated.
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