Frances M. Alquist

life story

She loved preparing and enjoying a feast with family and friends. She was a little Italian lady with a big heart.

Nana will be forever missed.

About Frances

Frances Mary (Perri) Alquist, 97, of Minneapolis and Maple Grove, MN passed away peacefully on March 30, 2021 at the Minnesota Veterans Home Minneapolis.

She was born in Minneapolis to Peter Perri and Mary (Pagliaro) Perri on June 26, 1923. She spent her childhood in a culturally Italian household and helped on the family’s truck farm located on the outskirts of Minneapolis. She attended high school in Robbinsdale, graduated in 1941 and married her husband Severn during World War II.

She is preceded in death by her husband, Severn and son, Alan; parents, Mary and Peter Perri; brothers and sisters-in-law, Ralph (Emma) Perri, and Peter (Marlys) Perri; sisters and brothers-in-law, Connie (Philip) Coldor, Anne (Peter) Petruzza and Ida (Conrad) Schulz.

She is survived by her children, Larry (Patti) and Karen Johnson; her grandchildren, Greta (Landon Bouma), Katie (Brad) Benefield, Erik (Khushbu), Ingrid (Peter) Kjeldgaard, Nicholas (Melinda) and Ben (Jaalyn Tran); great-grandchildren Ella and Oskar Kjeldgaard, Aarav and Ishaan Alquist, and Briggs Benefield. And her nieces, nephews, their families and many friends and neighbors.

Fran loved to cook and became known for her elaborate family holiday feasts that were joyfully shared. She was a whirlwind of energy always keeping busy with traveling to visit family, golfing, square dancing, volunteering for pot luck dinners, playing cards, sharing meals with friends and enjoying her grandchildren. Fran made fast friends wherever she went and was often unknowingly the funniest person in the room. She will be missed beyond words by so many whose lives she brightened. We are better people for having known her.

memorial service

Church of the Epiphany 4900 Nathan Lane N Plymouth, Mn 55442

August 6, 2022

Church of the Epiphany 4900 Nathan Ln N, Plymouth, MN 55442, USA

Memorial service at 10 a.m. on August 6, 2022. Interment and light lunch to follow at the church.