18 Jul Denise O’Grady
Denise Renae Buchholtz O’Grady passed away peacefully, with family by her side, at Sanford Health on July 10,2023 after a prolonged illness.
A memorial service will be held at 10:30 on Saturday, July 22, 2023 at Bismarck Funeral Home.
Denise was born on February 25, 1958 in Bismarck to Roy and Josephine Buchholtz. She was the youngest of five children.
She was raised and educated in Bismarck, ND.
In the early 80’s she moved to South Africa with her husband, Wayne O’Grady. In 1985 her beloved daughter, Tawni, was born and shortly aftershe returned home to North Dakota. Upon her return she worked at Kirkwood Motor Inn where she met many lifelong friends. She then pursed a nursing degree and graduated as an R.N. in 1998.
She worked in several nursing homes, SCCI, and did some traveling nurse duties. She then decided to become a full-time caregiver for her beloved Tawni.
One of her favorite past times was playing on a pool league. She played on several teams but made life long friends shooting for the Broken Oar River Bratz.
Her love and compassion for animals lead her to rescue many animals over the years, not limited to cats and dogs.
Denise loved to shop and travel, she spent years in South Africa, traveled to Paris, spent time in Boston, Massachusetts, Mexico, Arizona, and Las Vegas. She also loved her girls trips to yearly pool tournaments.
If you met Denise you probably became a friend for life. She will be missed by many people whose lives she touched throughout the years.
She is survived by her sister, Deb Bogert (Dave Bjornson), brother, Marlon Buchholtz (Vivian); sister-in-law, Ginnie Buchholtz, nephews, Guy, Dwight, Daniel, and Brandon; niece, Lauren, and her present beloved animals, Cheeto, Hazel, and Reggie.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Roy Buchholtz, Josephine Himmelspach, stepfather, Bill Himmelspach, brothers, Ken and Terry, and her beloved Tawni.
In lieu of flowers the family prefers memorials to animal shelters of choice.
Denise, my friend for the past 43 years. We met at Kirkwood Motor Inn 1980 and had the time of our lives working together in the lounge. You will truly be missed my friend.
Well Denise, you made it home. Make sure to save spots for the rest of us Riverbratz. We will all have another pool tournament together one day 🙂 I love and miss you my dear friend. Maybe you can find Cody up there. He liked a game of pool too, every now and then. I’ll be seeing you, old friend.
To the family, me deepest condolences go out to you. Big hugs.
Denise was an inspiring, outgoing, say it how it is and a truly wonderful person and great friend! We had many laughs in the pool world together and I loved the animal stories and her love for Tawni was amazing! I will always keep you in my heart! Miss you!
I lost touch with Denise over the years but have never forgotten how great she was to be around. No-nonsense with a huge sense of humor and a gift for telling jokes and making everyone laugh. We played volleyball together and she schooled me in pool on occasion. Always closing out the game with a sly little grin and a high five.
We shared a love for great music and had some good discussions on the topic along with Roger.
Denise was awesome in so many ways and she will be missed. Condolences to her family during this difficult time.
Rest in peace Denise