Grace Jean Nead Fallon
4D Grace Jean Nead
Grace was born Dec. 1,1901 and died April 26, 1988. Grace was the fourth child of Lizzie and Ira Nead and was born at Granville when her mother Lizzie was 19. Grace grew up and attended school at Granville and, at about age 17, married Walter Zimmerman. Walter grew up in Wisconsin and had been in an apprenticeship in harness making. Grace and Walter had three children. Their first child, born when Grace was 17 years of age, died in infancy. Their other two children are Walter, Jr. (Wally) and Donna.
After the death of her first child and sometime around the summer of 1920, Walter and Grace went to Grove, N.D. where Walter worked in a twine factory. The little town of Grove was near Bismarckand was home of the
State penitentiary. The town of Grove no longer exists. Walter, Jr. was born at Grove and a while later they adopted a girl whom they named Donna. Grace and Walter divorced. Sometime later Grace married Donald (Donnie) Hollo and they lived at Marshall, Minnesota and later around Milacs Lake area at Cross Lake. Don and Grace also lived in Alaskafor a while. There are a number of photographs which show Don and Grace together. Grace again married this time to John Supranant.
In her old age, Grace married a wonderful old gentleman, James Fallon. Grace and her husband, James lived at 215 3rd Street, SE, Aitkin, MN 56431. Beginning in 1983, after an illness for which she was hospitalized at the Grand Rapids Hospital, she resided at the Aicota Nursing Home, in Aitkin, MN. James paid for her care there and used up all he had saved over the years. Grace died in 1988 five years later with Alzheimer’s disease. Update fall, 1993 - James Fallon is alive and well and is remarried. He is about 90 years of age. Update January, 1996: Jim died suddenly of a heart attack in August of
1995.
In June of 1996, I visited with Jim’s widow Dagne at the senior residence in Aikin, Minnesota and she said how Jim loved Grace and took care of her to the end. She showed me photographs she had of Jim and his family and she was so
pleased for my visit with her. It was a warm day and she offered me a soft drink. Before I left, I said a short prayer
with her. I also stopped to visit the cemetery in Crosbywhere Grace and Jim are buried side-by-side. Their graves are toward the back of the small cemetery on the left and they have a single flat stone marker inscribed with both of their names. There is also a large empty urn to the left that Jim used to keep filled with flowers. Dagne hopes to get some flowers for it
but she can’t get out there herself.
The obituary in the Aitkin Independent Age Newspaper reads,
“Grace (Suprenant) Fallon, 86, Aitkin, passed away April 26, 1988, at
the Aicota Nursing Home, Aitkin. She was born Dec. 1, 1901 in
Sheldon, N.D. She lived in the area since 1966. She formerly lived
in the Isle and Onamia area. She was associated with St. Joseph’s
Catholic Church of Crosby, St. James Catholic Church of Aitkin and
Sacred Heart Catholic Church of Wahkon. Services were heldd
Thursday, April 28th, 1988 at 11 a.m. at the St. James Catholic
Church with Father Clem Gustin officiating. Burial was in the Lakewood
Cemetery, Crosby. She is survived by her husband, James; a
daughter, Donna Rudningen of San Francisco; a daughter - in - law,
Elaine Zimmerman of Eden Prairie; a niece, Edith Linn of Crosby; seven
grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren. She was preceded
in death by a son, Walter Zimmerman, [Jr.] in 1980.”
Grace’s daughter Donna has three children and her son Walter has four children. There are a total of at least 13 great-grandchildren today (As of April, 1988).
On the afternoon of February 27, 1996 Paul Nead called me from Independence, MO and told me about having located a farm south of Granville which was in the name of his father, Charley Nead (This is Grace’s brother). The farm was sold for back taxes in 1942 and so he was excited to think that it’s possible that his father had a farm there up to that time. If so,
Paul may be able to find some information on his father and is looking forward to traveling to North Dakota when the weather improves to search that out.
Paul also related to me the untold story about his aunt Grace and the child that died. Grace was born on Dec. 01, 1901 and gave birth to a child on April 3, 1919 by Walter Zimmerman, who I assume was then her husband. She was 17 years and 4 months old at the time of the child’s birth. The child was apparently never given a name and died three days later. Fourteen months later, on June 11, 1920 their son Walter, Jr. was born. Grace was 18 years and 6 months at the time of Walter’s birth.
During the period of early 1919, Grace and Walter had another child living with them who, it is said, they were contemplating adopting. The child was born in 1912 and so in 1919 the child was about seven or eight years old. Paul says that the story goes that it was winter time and the child ran off. This was probably the winter of 1919-1920 while Grace was pregnant with Walter. The child was found a few days later by a straw stack frozen to death. An autopsy was performed and it was found that the child had been starved. All that was found in the child’s stomach was a few kernels of raw wheat from the field.
Walter and Grace were charged with contributing to her death and the trial was held at the county courthouse at Towner. (The court records are at the courthouse there.) Walter and Grace were convicted and imprisoned at the State penitentiary at Grove, North Dakotafor about three years. The town of Grove was immediately adjacent to Bismarck. At Grove, Walter was given the work of making twine and Grace gave birth o her son Walter, Jr. while in prison. What a sad thing that the child died because of their apparent carelessness, neglect, or abuse.
An interesting item is that the foreman of the jury was Pete Graham who years later married the daughter of Grace’s cousin Mae! In 1939, about 19 years after this episode, Lawrence R. (Pete) Graham married Florence Penfield, then age 30
at Towner, N.D. Florence’s mother Mae Penfield was grace’s first cousin.
Commentary about Grace: What a struggle for a young girl!
Her grandmother on her mother’s side died when her mother was little and her grandfather on her father’s side died when her father was a baby many years before. Grace never knew those grandparents and they weren’t around to influence her life. And her mother had no mother to influence her and her father had no father to give him direction. It is said that it takes about six adults who care about the child and who serve as role models to grow the child into a happy and responsible adult. That support apparently wasn’t there for her. At seventeen she experienced the loss of her own newborn child. At eighteen she and/or her husband abused and neglected a child and that child also died. She must certainly have felt that life was out of control when she was put in jail.
In 1921, while she was in prison, her brother Charley was chasing around and for that his wife Ida left him - -and the whole scenario around Granville - - and moved with the children to Kansas. Grace’s mother, Lizzie, died the next year, in 1922, also while Grace was still in prison. It is said that Lizzie died of pneumonia. But I wonder if she died as well from a broken heart.
Over the years Grace was married three more times and in her later years was active in her church. From stories I have heard and read about her, I am sure that in her church she has sought redemption and found the real meaning of her name.
4D-1 Name unknown
Born April 3rd, 1919 at Granville, North Dakota and died three days later on April 6th. This child of Grace and Walter Zimmerman was born when Grace was eighteen years of age. Certainly, her death was a shock to the young couple and, I’m sure, the sorrow affected the direction of their short and troubled marriage together. The child is buried at Surrey, N.D.next to Grace’s grandmother Julia Atkins. The little town of Surrey is near Granville. There is no headstone and this short paragraph and an obscure county record will likely be the only reference that makes note of her existence.
4D-X Girl child
b. 1912 d. 1919. This child was living with the Grace and Walter and they were considering adoption. The child died at age seven and, according to Dudley Cowan and others, the child died under unusual circumstances under Grace’s and Walter’s care. Information about that was carried in the Minot, ND newspaper and is recorded in the courthouse records at Towner. See above story.
4D-2 Walter F. Zimmerman, Jr.
(Wally) b. June 11, 1920 at 1:30 AM at St. Alexius Hospital in Bismarck, N.D. At the time of his birth Walter was 22 and Grace was 18 years of age and they had moved to Grove, N.D., a town adjacent to Bismarck, where Walter worked in a twine factory. That town no longer exists. Walter, Jr. grew up at Marshall, Minnesota and married Elaine Fauvelle and they have three children. Walter served in the U.S. Army during W.W.II. In later years Walter and Elaine lived in Eden Prairie, MN. Walter died in 1980 and his wife Elaine died August 22, 1993. Walter and Elaine are buried at Fort Snelling National Cemetery in Minneapolis. Several grandchildren.
4D-2a Donald (Donny) John Zimmerman
b. Dec. 1947? Age 49 in 1996. Divorced. 13928 Reflection Drive, #235, Ballwin, MO. 63021 (314) 230 5609
4D-2a-1 Jeff ____ Zimmerman b. ____. Age 26 in 1996.
4D-2a-2 Jody ___ Zimmerman b. ____. Age 24 in 1996
4D-2b Ruth Grace Zimmerman
b. Jan. 29 1952. RR 1, Box 206 Granada, MN 56039. Divorced.
4D-2b-1 Tammy _____ ______ b. ____, 1971? Age 25 in 1996. Married to ________.
4D-2b-2 Samuel _____ ______ b. ____, 1974? Age 22 in 1996.
4D-2b-3 James _____ ______ b. ____, 1979? Age 17 in 1996.
4D-2c Mary Kay Zimmerman
b. Oct 2, 1953. Married Eugene Anderson. Mary and Gene live at 68580 US HYW 12, Darwin, MN 55324. (612) 275 3697. Interested in info on family.
4D-2c-1 Amy Jo Zimmerman b. Jan 28, 1979
4D-2c-2 Stacy Marie Zimmerman b. Dec 10, 1980
4D-2c-3 Steven Jerome Zimmerman .b May 21, 1987
4D-3 Donna May Zimmerman Rudningen
b. ____ Donna was an adopted child. Donna grew up at Marshall, MNand attended nurse’s training around 1940. Donna married ___ Rudningen and they had four children. She has worked as a nurse in California for many years. Her husband died on ___. Donna’s address is listed as 6500 Creekmont Way, Citrus Heights, CA 95621. Donna has four children based on the number of grandchildren listed in the obituary notice of her mother Grace. Donna has many of her mother’s old photographs which she received from Jim Fallon after she died.
4D-3a __________, b. _____.
4D-3b __________, b. _____.
4D-3c __________, b. _____.
4D-3d __________, b. _____.
Grace was born Dec. 1,1901 and died April 26, 1988. Grace was the fourth child of Lizzie and Ira Nead and was born at Granville when her mother Lizzie was 19. Grace grew up and attended school at Granville and, at about age 17, married Walter Zimmerman. Walter grew up in Wisconsin and had been in an apprenticeship in harness making. Grace and Walter had three children. Their first child, born when Grace was 17 years of age, died in infancy. Their other two children are Walter, Jr. (Wally) and Donna.
After the death of her first child and sometime around the summer of 1920, Walter and Grace went to Grove, N.D. where Walter worked in a twine factory. The little town of Grove was near Bismarckand was home of the
State penitentiary. The town of Grove no longer exists. Walter, Jr. was born at Grove and a while later they adopted a girl whom they named Donna. Grace and Walter divorced. Sometime later Grace married Donald (Donnie) Hollo and they lived at Marshall, Minnesota and later around Milacs Lake area at Cross Lake. Don and Grace also lived in Alaskafor a while. There are a number of photographs which show Don and Grace together. Grace again married this time to John Supranant.
In her old age, Grace married a wonderful old gentleman, James Fallon. Grace and her husband, James lived at 215 3rd Street, SE, Aitkin, MN 56431. Beginning in 1983, after an illness for which she was hospitalized at the Grand Rapids Hospital, she resided at the Aicota Nursing Home, in Aitkin, MN. James paid for her care there and used up all he had saved over the years. Grace died in 1988 five years later with Alzheimer’s disease. Update fall, 1993 - James Fallon is alive and well and is remarried. He is about 90 years of age. Update January, 1996: Jim died suddenly of a heart attack in August of
1995.
In June of 1996, I visited with Jim’s widow Dagne at the senior residence in Aikin, Minnesota and she said how Jim loved Grace and took care of her to the end. She showed me photographs she had of Jim and his family and she was so
pleased for my visit with her. It was a warm day and she offered me a soft drink. Before I left, I said a short prayer
with her. I also stopped to visit the cemetery in Crosbywhere Grace and Jim are buried side-by-side. Their graves are toward the back of the small cemetery on the left and they have a single flat stone marker inscribed with both of their names. There is also a large empty urn to the left that Jim used to keep filled with flowers. Dagne hopes to get some flowers for it
but she can’t get out there herself.
The obituary in the Aitkin Independent Age Newspaper reads,
“Grace (Suprenant) Fallon, 86, Aitkin, passed away April 26, 1988, at
the Aicota Nursing Home, Aitkin. She was born Dec. 1, 1901 in
Sheldon, N.D. She lived in the area since 1966. She formerly lived
in the Isle and Onamia area. She was associated with St. Joseph’s
Catholic Church of Crosby, St. James Catholic Church of Aitkin and
Sacred Heart Catholic Church of Wahkon. Services were heldd
Thursday, April 28th, 1988 at 11 a.m. at the St. James Catholic
Church with Father Clem Gustin officiating. Burial was in the Lakewood
Cemetery, Crosby. She is survived by her husband, James; a
daughter, Donna Rudningen of San Francisco; a daughter - in - law,
Elaine Zimmerman of Eden Prairie; a niece, Edith Linn of Crosby; seven
grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren. She was preceded
in death by a son, Walter Zimmerman, [Jr.] in 1980.”
Grace’s daughter Donna has three children and her son Walter has four children. There are a total of at least 13 great-grandchildren today (As of April, 1988).
On the afternoon of February 27, 1996 Paul Nead called me from Independence, MO and told me about having located a farm south of Granville which was in the name of his father, Charley Nead (This is Grace’s brother). The farm was sold for back taxes in 1942 and so he was excited to think that it’s possible that his father had a farm there up to that time. If so,
Paul may be able to find some information on his father and is looking forward to traveling to North Dakota when the weather improves to search that out.
Paul also related to me the untold story about his aunt Grace and the child that died. Grace was born on Dec. 01, 1901 and gave birth to a child on April 3, 1919 by Walter Zimmerman, who I assume was then her husband. She was 17 years and 4 months old at the time of the child’s birth. The child was apparently never given a name and died three days later. Fourteen months later, on June 11, 1920 their son Walter, Jr. was born. Grace was 18 years and 6 months at the time of Walter’s birth.
During the period of early 1919, Grace and Walter had another child living with them who, it is said, they were contemplating adopting. The child was born in 1912 and so in 1919 the child was about seven or eight years old. Paul says that the story goes that it was winter time and the child ran off. This was probably the winter of 1919-1920 while Grace was pregnant with Walter. The child was found a few days later by a straw stack frozen to death. An autopsy was performed and it was found that the child had been starved. All that was found in the child’s stomach was a few kernels of raw wheat from the field.
Walter and Grace were charged with contributing to her death and the trial was held at the county courthouse at Towner. (The court records are at the courthouse there.) Walter and Grace were convicted and imprisoned at the State penitentiary at Grove, North Dakotafor about three years. The town of Grove was immediately adjacent to Bismarck. At Grove, Walter was given the work of making twine and Grace gave birth o her son Walter, Jr. while in prison. What a sad thing that the child died because of their apparent carelessness, neglect, or abuse.
An interesting item is that the foreman of the jury was Pete Graham who years later married the daughter of Grace’s cousin Mae! In 1939, about 19 years after this episode, Lawrence R. (Pete) Graham married Florence Penfield, then age 30
at Towner, N.D. Florence’s mother Mae Penfield was grace’s first cousin.
Commentary about Grace: What a struggle for a young girl!
Her grandmother on her mother’s side died when her mother was little and her grandfather on her father’s side died when her father was a baby many years before. Grace never knew those grandparents and they weren’t around to influence her life. And her mother had no mother to influence her and her father had no father to give him direction. It is said that it takes about six adults who care about the child and who serve as role models to grow the child into a happy and responsible adult. That support apparently wasn’t there for her. At seventeen she experienced the loss of her own newborn child. At eighteen she and/or her husband abused and neglected a child and that child also died. She must certainly have felt that life was out of control when she was put in jail.
In 1921, while she was in prison, her brother Charley was chasing around and for that his wife Ida left him - -and the whole scenario around Granville - - and moved with the children to Kansas. Grace’s mother, Lizzie, died the next year, in 1922, also while Grace was still in prison. It is said that Lizzie died of pneumonia. But I wonder if she died as well from a broken heart.
Over the years Grace was married three more times and in her later years was active in her church. From stories I have heard and read about her, I am sure that in her church she has sought redemption and found the real meaning of her name.
4D-1 Name unknown
Born April 3rd, 1919 at Granville, North Dakota and died three days later on April 6th. This child of Grace and Walter Zimmerman was born when Grace was eighteen years of age. Certainly, her death was a shock to the young couple and, I’m sure, the sorrow affected the direction of their short and troubled marriage together. The child is buried at Surrey, N.D.next to Grace’s grandmother Julia Atkins. The little town of Surrey is near Granville. There is no headstone and this short paragraph and an obscure county record will likely be the only reference that makes note of her existence.
4D-X Girl child
b. 1912 d. 1919. This child was living with the Grace and Walter and they were considering adoption. The child died at age seven and, according to Dudley Cowan and others, the child died under unusual circumstances under Grace’s and Walter’s care. Information about that was carried in the Minot, ND newspaper and is recorded in the courthouse records at Towner. See above story.
4D-2 Walter F. Zimmerman, Jr.
(Wally) b. June 11, 1920 at 1:30 AM at St. Alexius Hospital in Bismarck, N.D. At the time of his birth Walter was 22 and Grace was 18 years of age and they had moved to Grove, N.D., a town adjacent to Bismarck, where Walter worked in a twine factory. That town no longer exists. Walter, Jr. grew up at Marshall, Minnesota and married Elaine Fauvelle and they have three children. Walter served in the U.S. Army during W.W.II. In later years Walter and Elaine lived in Eden Prairie, MN. Walter died in 1980 and his wife Elaine died August 22, 1993. Walter and Elaine are buried at Fort Snelling National Cemetery in Minneapolis. Several grandchildren.
4D-2a Donald (Donny) John Zimmerman
b. Dec. 1947? Age 49 in 1996. Divorced. 13928 Reflection Drive, #235, Ballwin, MO. 63021 (314) 230 5609
4D-2a-1 Jeff ____ Zimmerman b. ____. Age 26 in 1996.
4D-2a-2 Jody ___ Zimmerman b. ____. Age 24 in 1996
4D-2b Ruth Grace Zimmerman
b. Jan. 29 1952. RR 1, Box 206 Granada, MN 56039. Divorced.
4D-2b-1 Tammy _____ ______ b. ____, 1971? Age 25 in 1996. Married to ________.
4D-2b-2 Samuel _____ ______ b. ____, 1974? Age 22 in 1996.
4D-2b-3 James _____ ______ b. ____, 1979? Age 17 in 1996.
4D-2c Mary Kay Zimmerman
b. Oct 2, 1953. Married Eugene Anderson. Mary and Gene live at 68580 US HYW 12, Darwin, MN 55324. (612) 275 3697. Interested in info on family.
4D-2c-1 Amy Jo Zimmerman b. Jan 28, 1979
4D-2c-2 Stacy Marie Zimmerman b. Dec 10, 1980
4D-2c-3 Steven Jerome Zimmerman .b May 21, 1987
4D-3 Donna May Zimmerman Rudningen
b. ____ Donna was an adopted child. Donna grew up at Marshall, MNand attended nurse’s training around 1940. Donna married ___ Rudningen and they had four children. She has worked as a nurse in California for many years. Her husband died on ___. Donna’s address is listed as 6500 Creekmont Way, Citrus Heights, CA 95621. Donna has four children based on the number of grandchildren listed in the obituary notice of her mother Grace. Donna has many of her mother’s old photographs which she received from Jim Fallon after she died.
4D-3a __________, b. _____.
4D-3b __________, b. _____.
4D-3c __________, b. _____.
4D-3d __________, b. _____.