Alma Pedeliski

Alma Virginia (Schaar) Pedeliski, 85, Bismarck, passed away Saturday, September 17, 2022 at St. Alexius Medical Center in Bismarck.

Alma was born on February 21, 1937, at Reeder, North Dakota, the daughter of Frederick O. Schaar and Alma (Rolhck) Schaar. She went to rural schools in Cedar Creek township and graduated from Scranton High School in 1953. She attended Dickinson State Teaching College, graduating in 1957.

In 1958, Virginia worked for the USFDA in Minneapolis. That same year, she married Theodore B. Pedeliski on September 4, 1958. He was serving in the US Army and was transferred to Kagnew Station in Ethiopia. Virginia joined Theodore and she taught at the Base High School. They returned in 1961, and spent two years in Fargo, ND where Virginia earned a Masters degree from the North Dakota Agriculture College. They moved to Grand Forks, ND and Virginia taught at the University of North Dakota and then back to St. Paul, MN to further her education. In 1970, Virginia won a fellowship to attend and do research at the Institute for Plant Physiology in Vienna, Austria earning a PhD in 1973.

Virginia and Theodore spent the next 32 years in Grand Forks. She worked as the Administrative Secretary of the Newman Center and Parish of St. Thomas Aquinas. She and Theodore retired in 2000 and moved to Bismarck, ND.

Virginia had no children. She developed friendships and gave support to many UND students (her Newman daughters) over the years. With her seven nieces and nine nephews, they have been her family and served as a warm well of love and concern for her.

Virginia was preceded in death by her parents; all her siblings (Fred, Robert, & Roy Schaar); Dorothy Hansen and Jean Goodhue; nephews (Theodore Schaar, Lewis Schaar, & Terry Hansen); and niece (Patricia Schaar).

She leaves behind her supportive husband and extended family as well as countless former colleagues, friends, and neighbors.