Quirin "Q" Friese

Quirin “Q” “Punky” Friese, 82, Bismarck, passed away on Saturday, October 19, 2019 at CHI St. Alexius Hospital in Bismarck.

Funeral Mass will be on Wednesday, October 23, at 10:00 am at Corpus Christi Church, 1919 N. 2nd St.
Bismarck.  Visitation will be on Tuesday from 5:00-7:00 pm at Eastgate Funeral Service, 2302 E. Divide Ave, Bismarck, with a Vigil/Rosary starting at 7:00 pm. Burial will take place at the North Dakota Veterans Cemetery on Wednesday, October 23 at 3:00 pm.

Q was born February 23, 1937 in Max, ND to Joseph Sr. and Marie (Huettl) Friese. He attended school in Garrison, other than a short time at Crosier Seminary in Minnesota.  He was very active in 4H and FFA and served as the first President of Garrison FFA chapter.  Q graduated from Garrison High School in 1955.  He worked a short time in construction before finding his niche, enlisting in the National Guard in November 1956. He was commissioned as a 2^nd Lieutenant on Sept. 19 , 1960.

 He married the love of his life, Verna Stumvoll, on February 4, 1967, in Garrison. The events of that day were talked about frequently in later years due to an unexpected blizzard which resulted the entire wedding party and many others sleeping anywhere they could find a spot on the floor.

The couple then moved to Minot where Q served as full time training officer for the 164^th Engineer Battalion.  In 1977 the family moved to Bismarck and he began working in military logistics.  He retired as a fulltime Guardsman in 1992 at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.

Following retirement from the ND ARNG, he continued to work for ND State Disaster Management and as a part-time Guardsman for several years, assisting with disaster recovery efforts. Q’s military career spanned 37years, until his full retirement in Nov 1994.

If he did not know you, it only took a few minutes of conversation to make a life-long friend. If you didn’t know him, all it took was a few minutes conversation.  He was an avid gardener, loved to play cards and taught countless people how to play pinochle.  Q was a member of the Knights of Columbus, the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserves, served on the Hay Creek Township Board, and an active member of Corpus Christi Church for over 40 years. Q was one of the “regulars” who mowed the North Dakota Veterans Cemetery every week.  He was an outwardly a humble man, a gentle man, who took a lot of pride in his faith, his family and his military service.

He is survived by his wife of 52 years, Verna Friese, Bismarck; his children, Lee Friese, Bismarck, Mark (RoxAnne) Friese, Argusville, ND, Donnette Weil, Bismarck and Ashley (Josh) Wooledge, Bismarck; Q’s grandchildren-Q’s Crew, who he referred to by numbers 1-8, Jennifer Friese, Ariane Weil and her fiancé Zak Sarsten, Meghan Friese, Shianne Friese, Jerica Friese, Marah Weil, Carson Friese and Brinley Wooledge; siblings, Maureen (Paul) Kensok, Kathleen (Leo) Haider, Rosemary Vollmer, Wayne Friese and sister in law, Darlene Friese; many nieces, nephews, friends, including his good friend and pinochle partner, Al Nagel and members of the Guard family .  He was preceded in death by his parents; brother Joseph Friese, special cousin, Phyllis Walker, and best friend, Ben Kemp.

In lieu of flowers, the family prefers memorials be given to the North Dakota Veterans Cemetery,  1825 46^th St., Mandan, ND 58554