Joseph Friese

Joseph "Joe" Friese, 77, of Great Falls, a retired meat buyer, died of bladder cancer Thursday, Oct. 18, at his home.

A vigil service is 7 p.m. Friday at Holy Spirit Catholic Church. A funeral liturgy is 10 a.m. Saturday at the church. Inurnment will be at a later date at Holy Spirit Columbarium. Schnider Funeral Home is handling arrangements.

Joe succumbed to bladder cancer at his home surrounded by his family.

Joseph "Joe" Friese was born Jan. 18, 1935, in Max, N.D., to Joseph and Marie (Huettl) Friese. The family moved to Garrison, N.D., in 1942, where they operated a family farm. In his younger years, Joe was very active in 4H, where he won many awards. He attended elementary school at St. Nicholas Catholic and graduated as salutatorian from Garrison High School in 1953.

Joe was married on July 18, 1954, to Darlene Kastner. He was employed by the Garrison SuperValu grocery store for 5 years and in 1959, moved his family to Havre, where he worked at the Buttrey Foods meat plant as a meat cutter for 12 years. In 1971, the meat warehouse was closed, and the family moved to Great Falls, where he transferred to a meat purchasing job in the Buttrey's offices. He retired in 1996 after 37 years with Buttrey Foods.

Joe enjoyed hunting and fishing in his younger years and regularly returned to visit family in North Dakota to help on both the Friese and Kastner farms. He was a handyman extraordinaire and could do nearly anything. In his retirement years, he enjoyed gardening, holiday baking, camping and assisting neighbors with yard work and snow removal. His greatest accomplishments were helping his kids with their many home improvement and maintenance projects.

Joe is survived by his wife of 58 years, Darlene; daughter Debi (Phil) Miller of Redmond, Wash.; sons Greg Friese of Westminster, Colo., Gary Friese of Great Falls, David (Mary) Friese of Orinda, Calif., and Dean (Betty) Friese of Great Falls; nine grandchildren and three great-grandsons. He is also survived by brothers Quirin (Verna) Friese of Bismarck, N.D., Wayne Friese of Colorado Springs, Colo.; and sisters Maureen (Paul) Kensok of West Fargo, N.D., Kathleen (Leo) Haider of Minot, N.D., and Rosemary Vollmer of Anamoose, N.D.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Joseph and Marie Friese.

Memorials may be sent to Holy Spirit Parish (Columbarium Fund), 201 44th St. So., Great Falls, MT 59401.

Condolences may be posted online at www.schniderfuneralhome.com and/or www.gftribune.com/obituaries.