Joyce Tongen

Joyce Ethel Tongen, 96, of Cavalier, ND, passed away Monday, November 27, 2023, at the Borg Pioneer Memorial Home, Mountain, ND. Funeral service will be held Friday, December 1, 2023, at 2:00 p.m. at the Askew Funeral Home in Cavalier, ND. Visitation will be held one hour before the time of service at Askew Funeral Home. Immediately after the service, burial will take place at Hillside Cemetery in Walhalla, ND. In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred to Borg Pioneer Memorial Home, 61 Borg Drive, Mountain, ND 58265.

Joyce was born on December 11, 1926, to Olafur and Ethel (Bjornson) Einarson in Mountain ND. She grew up on the farm near Milton, ND. She was an alumnus of Milton High School and went on to further her education at Mayville State College. She was a schoolteacher for Park Center Rural School near Walhalla. She met her husband, Clair E Tongen, at a country dance and married on December 31, 1946, at the Lutheran Parsonage in Mountain ND. They made their home initially on the farm near Walhalla and later moved to Cavalier where they raised their youngest child. Joyce resided in the Borg Nursing Home for quite some time where she was loved by all. Joyce was an excellent cook and baker as well as a wonderful mother and very proud Grandma. She enjoyed reading, gardening, and was an active member of the Presbyterian Church both in Park Center and Cavalier. She enjoyed walking and volunteering at the Cavalier Thrift Store in her later years.

Survivors include her children: Constance Graham and children Sean (Elane) Graham and Heather Graham; Joel (Loretta) Tongen and children Erik and Adam (Ana) Tongen; Karen (Darrell) Kemnitz and children Ryan (Jenna) Kemnitz and Rachel (Marcus) Ramsay; Becky (Lynn) Ault and children Stephanie, Julie (Nik) Kemnitz, Katelyn and Richard "Ricky". Great Grandchildren: Finnegan, Mason, and Samantha Graham, Bodie Graham, Harper, and Holden Tongen, Ava, Henry, and Everett Kemnitz, Nora and Jade Ramsay, Ivy and Charlee Kemnitz. Her sister, Beverly Bleakley.

Joyce is preceded in death by her husband Clair Tongen, parents Olafur and Ethel Einarson, brothers Dennis Einarson and Bill Einarson, sisters Judy Klindt, Lorraine Chaput, Fern Stabo, Olivia Veer, Mavis Akset, Doreen Nelson, and sister Inga who died as a child. Also preceding her in death is her son-in-law, Richard (Dick) Graham.