Jean (Holien) Malanaphy died with grace and in peace on July 16, 2025, having said good-byes to her family and friends. She was just shy of 93 years, with her birthday coming up on July 30 (1932).
She is now dancing with her husband, Jim Malanaphy, Jr., who has been preparing for her arrival since 2017, along with her beloved son David who passed over in 2002. Her parents, Mel and Clara Holien and her brother David Holien, Jim’s parents James Malanaphy Sr. and Dorothy (Marlow) Malanaphy and his siblings Joyce Lynch, Betty (Glen) Martin, John Charles (Jannan) Malanaphy, Dorothy (Jack) Kendall, Mary Lou (Leo) Manning, and Julia Massman have also preceded Jean in death.
She is succeeded by her children, James J. III, Toni Malanaphy-Sorg (Mike Sorg), Brennan (Peg), Seri, Joel, Stuart, and Maury (Liz); grandchildren: McKenzie (Galen Poor), Marley (Steven Klutho), Tess (Daniel Blue), Jake/James J. IV (Samantha), Jonah Halvorson, Sydney (Conner Beaudoin), Max, Clara (Ryan Hilsgen), Kate, and Owen; great grandchildren: Felix and Cleo, Bo and Wesley, Maeve and Milo; sister-in-law Audrey Holien, brother-in-law Laverne Massman; numerous nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends.
Born in Ossian Iowa, Jean grew up there and in Lenora, MN and attended Canton High School where she sang in a musical group and was homecoming queen, graduating in 1949.
She met Jim Malanaphy and married him in 1951, beginning an adventure that began with following him to Fort McCoy in Wisconsin, where she worked in the Army Store and shared an apartment with Jim’s sister. Once married, she moved to Lawton, Oklahoma while Jim completed his Army service, then lived on the Malanaphy family farm in Decorah, moving to Mason City, IA in 1957, and on to fifteen other homes/moves before ending up in her Hudson, Wisconsin house, with her youngest son, Maury, as her neighbor.
She made a good life with Jim, raising eight children, cooking wonderful meals, baking, reading and sharing what she learned, contributing to several businesses as they were launched (all of which are still in business today), and finding time to travel and to stay connected with friends and family. She was truly interested in learning about the lives of people she met, and was a great listener, adviser, and trusted confidante. She cherished every gift, every experience, every relationship. We will miss her counsel, support and graceful, caring, strength.
Funeral Mass will be 2:00 PM, Friday, August 1, 2025, at Assumption Catholic Church in Canton, Minnesota with Father Nicholas Gawarecki officiating. Burial will be in the Calvary Cemetery in Canton. Visitation will be one hour prior to services in the church. Memorials are preferred to Catholic Relief Services, www.crs.org, or 228 W. Lexington St., Baltimore, MD, 21201-3413
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