Mass of Christian burial will be 11 am on Thursday, June 15, 2023, at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in New Ulm. Father Jerry Meidl will celebrate the Mass, and burial will follow in the New Ulm Catholic Cemetery.

Visitation will be held from 4-7 pm on Wednesday, June 14th, and continue from 9:30-10:30 am on Thursday, June 15th all at the Minnesota Valley Funeral Home-North Chapel in New Ulm.

Margaret Joan Geiss was born on September 7, 1939, in Bismarck, North Dakota to Joseph J. and Margaret M. (Graner) Geiss. As a young child, Margaret lived in many places with different relatives at the end of the Great Depression, but when her family finally settled in Mandan, the North Dakota prairie became her playground. She would fish and explore with her brother Russell, but after lunch they always had to be home by supper at the 6 o’clock whistle which they could hear for miles. She recalled many times they had to RUN to make it back in time.

After her graduation from Mandan High School, Margaret worked as a practical nurse for three years, and then completed one year LPN college in Dickinson, North Dakota. She then returned to St. Alexius Hospital in Bismarck and worked until marrying Gerald Bender, the love of her life, on August 28, 1962.

The couple moved from Mandan to Billings, Montana where they began raising their family, and she became a homemaker. After 11 years in Billings, they moved to New Ulm, Minnesota in 1973. Margaret returned to nursing and worked in the geriatric ward at Loretto Hospital for two years.

Margaret spent much of her time on their 20-acre hobby farm with their children raising horses, calves, rabbits, dogs, ducks, and pigeons as well. She was a 4-H mom and on the County Extension. Margaret enjoyed sewing, knitting, crocheting, and embroidery. She enjoyed gardening, canning, and mushroom hunting and fed her family well with favorites such as stew and rubber necks, cabbage rolls, and salted pork neck bones with mashed potatoes and sauerkraut. The list could go on and on. She was always ready to try new recipes and would cut them out of magazines. Margaret also loved BINGO and played whenever she could.

Margaret and Gerald bought their dream motorhome in 1999 and began traveling the US (Alaska), Canada, and Mexico. She would read about a special place, and he would take her there. As snowbirds, they would settle in Apache Junction, Arizona and spent many happy, warm winters there. After Gerald passed away, she would continue traveling.

Margaret and Gerald taught their children this joy of traveling, and the importance of family, and the connection to their ties out west, where they enjoyed many memories with their brothers and sisters, nieces, nephews, and very special friends who always stayed close in their hearts wherever they were. She loved her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, whose birthdays and special occasions were never forgot.

Margaret’s strong faith and love of the Lord was apparent and she taught this to all of her children, and she rarely missed Mass. As a devout member of St. Mary’s Catholic Church in New Ulm, Minnesota, she received the blessed sacrament as long as she could.

Margaret was a loving, kind, caring and strong woman who never lost her sense of adventure and love of life. Her strength stayed with her until the end. She and her smile will be greatly missed by all who knew her.

Margaret is survived by her children, Paulette (Richard) Shilling of Four Oaks, North Carolina, Gregory (Ingrid) Bender of Wiesbaden, Germany, Rebecca (Michael) Bown of East Bethel, Nancy Jo (Allen) Dauer of New Ulm, Joseph (special friend Iris Rosales) Bender of New Ulm; her 10 grandchildren, Jamie and Jackson Shilling, Patrick and Jennifer Bender, Scott Bown and Matthew (Heather) Bown, Maggie (Jon) Suess, Adam, Loren and Rachel Dauer, her 6 great-grandchildren, Hailey, Jayden, Jaxyn and Carson Bown, and Allie and Tucker Suess; her sisters-in-law, Sundra Geiss of Mandan, ND, Dolores Scott of West Point, NE, Nettie (Dennis) Braun of Mandan, ND, Cecilia Bender of Billings, MT; her brothers-in-law, Clarence (Millie) Bender of Billings, MT, Kenneth Bender of Billings, MT; and many other relatives and friends. She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Gerald in 2011; her brother, Russell Geiss; and many other in-laws, relatives and friends.

A special thank you to Dr. Scott Rysdahl, Woodstone Senior Living, and Allina New Ulm Hospice Caregivers.

In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred to Allina Hospice, St. Jude’s Children Hospital, or the donor’s choice.

To leave an online condolence for her family, or to sign the guestbook, go to: mvfh.org

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