Frances Antonia Kress

Frances Antonia (Thill) Kress, age 102, went to her heavenly home on March 24, 2018. Services celebrating her life will be held on Friday, April 6 at 1:30 pm in the chapel at St Vincent’s Care Center, 1021 N 26th St., Bismarck. There will be a rosary at 7:00 pm Thursday, April 5, at Eastgate Funeral Service, 2302 E. Divide Ave., Bismarck. She was born on December 15, 1915 to Jim and Mary (Bares) Thill on the family farm five miles east of Golva, ND during the worst blizzard of the year. She was the sixth of the eleven Thill children and was called “Honey” by her brothers and sisters. She told stories of hauling coal for the stove, washing clothes on the scrub board, and using kerosene to light the house. She also told of when she and her brother hid in a haystack to avoid getting a hair cut from their older sister because Barbara would sometimes cut them. And how the kids laughed when the workhorse their dad was riding bareback stopped quickly and their dad flew over the horse’s head. She graduated from Beach High School in 1934 and was proud to be the first one of her family to graduate from high school. Frances met Frank Kress at a baseball game, and he proposed eight months later. They married in Beach, January 1938, during a blizzard that kept many family members from attending. The bridal couple got stuck on Main Street. They moved to a farm fifteen miles southeast of Beach. She told of waking in the morning to a cow looking in her bedroom window. They lived on several farmsteads and Frank worked for various farmers planting crops. They raised seven children and chickens, turkeys, and grew large gardens. She served on the school board and was the secretary of the Carlson School in Delhi Township. The family moved into Beach in 1962 and, sadly, Frank passed away in 1964 due to complications from a heart attack. By herself, she raised the three children that were still at home, served as chairperson of the St. Ann’s Guild, was den mother for the Boy Scouts, and member of the Hospital Aide Group. She was proud that she wrote a monthly article for the Golden Valley News for twenty years. She was also the Golden Valley County Library librarian for twenty-eight years. She remembered the names of the library children until she was into her 90s. Frances enjoyed reading, solving crossword puzzles, putting together jigsaw puzzles, making quilts and was a ferocious Rummikub and Mexican Train dominoes player. She treasured the many trips she took with her oldest daughter, Norita, to visit family members throughout the United States. She was very witty and things that came out of her mouth often made visitors laugh. Frances was a devout Catholic and long-time member of St. John the Baptist Catholic church in Beach. She attended daily mass at St. Vincent’s Care Center until she was no longer able to. She is survived by two daughters; Norita Kress of Bismarck and Kerry Ann (Dan) Mischel of Andover, MN; four sons, Raymond (Bonnie) of Shippensburg, PA, Dennis of Linton, Deryl (Anne) of Tijeras NM, Dana of White Plains NY; 8 grandchildren, 18 great grandchildren and 2 great, great grandchildren; one brother, Marvin Thill of Texas; one sister, Ruth Barnaby of Montana. She was preceded in death by her parents, Jim and Mary Thill; her husband, Frank; her daughter, Marilyn Burkhardsmeier; her daughter-in-law, Linda; four brothers Lawrence, Edwin, Clarence, and Leonard; four sisters Barbara, Genevieve, Marguerite and Lillian.