1928
Joan
2016
Joan McNally
July 4, 1928 — February 3, 2016
The funeral mass for Joan M. McNally, of Chokio, Minnesota will be held on Thursday, February 18, 2016 at 10:30 a.m. at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Chokio. Celebrant for the mass will be Father John Paul Knopik. Visitation will be at the St. Mary's Catholic Church in Chokio on Wednesday from 5 to 7 p.m. and on Thursday one hour prior to the services. Burial will be at St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery, near Chokio.
Joan Mary Wensman, daughter of John "Herman" and Clara (Herman) Wensman was born July 4, 1928 in Chokio, Minnesota, where she grew up and attended school, graduating from Chokio High School in 1946. She was united in marriage to Joseph "Bud" McNally on July 17, 1946 in Chokio. The couple made their home in Chokio and raised their family. Joan worked as the editor of the Chokio Review and also as a photographer and reporter for the Morris Sun Tribune. In 1978, she retired to care for her ill husband, father and sister. Bud died on June 14, 1990. Joan continued to live in Chokio and remained very active in the community. Joan moved into West Wind Village in Morris in 2015.
Joan was very community and civic minded, volunteering many hours to local organizations and serving on numerous boards. Joan was extremely proud of the hours she dedicated to the Operation Splash Committee, which helps maintain the pool in Chokio. Joan served on the original swimming pool committee and was instrumental in helping the community raise funds and build the community center and pool. Another passion of hers was the Bud McNally Memorial Garden on Main Street in Chokio. Using the memorial money from her husband's funeral, Joan helped the city demolish a derelict building and on that site she established a beautiful memorial garden where many Chokio folks were honored and remembered with plantings and plaques. She took care of the Memorial Garden, pulling weeds and planting, for over twenty years. She was an avid traveler, visiting 49 of the 50 U.S. states and 26 foreign countries; but her heart was always in Chokio.
Joan died on Wednesday, February 03, 2016 at the Stevens Community Medical Center in Morris. She was 87 years old.
She is survived by two sons, Bill (Morli) McNally, Eden Prairie, MN and Dan (Vicki) McNally, North Branch, MN; one daughter, Kay (Chuck) Grossman, Chokio, MN; one sister, Audrey (Marvin) Lange, Phoenix, AZ; eight grandchildren: Shaun McNally, Ryan McNally, Liam McNally, Greta Siegel, Maggie deNeui, Brendan McNally, Erin Duffey and Bridget McNally and eleven great-grandchildren. Joan was preceded in death by her husband, parents and six siblings, Florence Fitzsimmons, Eileen Olson, Mary Jane Wensman, Eugene Wensman, Martin Wensman and Alvin Wensman.
In lieu of flowers the family prefers memorials given to Operation Splash and the Bud McNally Memorial Garden in Chokio.
Joan McNally
Joan Mary Wensman, daughter of John "Herman" and Clara (Herman) Wensman was born July 4, 1928 in Chokio, Minnesota, where she grew up and attended school, graduating from Chokio High School in 1946. She was united in marriage to Joseph "Bud" McNally on July 17, 1946 in Chokio. The couple made their home in Chokio and raised their family. Joan worked as the editor of the Chokio Review and also as a photographer and reporter for the Morris Sun Tribune. In 1978, she retired to care for her ill husband, father and sister. Bud died on June 14, 1990. Joan continued to live in Chokio and remained very active in the community. Joan moved into West Wind Village in Morris in 2015.
Joan was very community and civic minded, volunteering many hours to local organizations and serving on numerous boards. Joan was extremely proud of the hours she dedicated to the Operation Splash Committee, which helps maintain the pool in Chokio. Joan served on the original swimming pool committee and was instrumental in helping the community raise funds and build the community center and pool. Another passion of hers was the Bud McNally Memorial Garden on Main Street in Chokio. Using the memorial money from her husband's funeral, Joan helped the city demolish a derelict building and on that site she established a beautiful memorial garden where many Chokio folks were honored and remembered with plantings and plaques. She took care of the Memorial Garden, pulling weeds and planting, for over twenty years. She was an avid traveler, visiting 49 of the 50 U.S. states and 26 foreign countries; but her heart was always in Chokio.
Joan died on Wednesday, February 03, 2016 at the Stevens Community Medical Center in Morris. She was 87 years old.
She is survived by two sons, Bill (Morli) McNally, Eden Prairie, MN and Dan (Vicki) McNally, North Branch, MN; one daughter, Kay (Chuck) Grossman, Chokio, MN; one sister, Audrey (Marvin) Lange, Phoenix, AZ; eight grandchildren: Shaun McNally, Ryan McNally, Liam McNally, Greta Siegel, Maggie deNeui, Brendan McNally, Erin Duffey and Bridget McNally and eleven great-grandchildren. Joan was preceded in death by her husband, parents and six siblings, Florence Fitzsimmons, Eileen Olson, Mary Jane Wensman, Eugene Wensman, Martin Wensman and Alvin Wensman.
In lieu of flowers the family prefers memorials given to Operation Splash and the Bud McNally Memorial Garden in Chokio.
Joan McNally
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