Kathryn Elizabeth (Moran) Bienash
Kathryn Moran Bienash, age 91, passed away on Tuesday, January 8, 2013, at St. Elizabeth Manor in Footville. She was the daughter of Clifford and Bridget (Owens) Moran, born on May 22, 1921 in Madison, WI. As a child, she lived with her grandparents, William and Elizabeth Owens, at their farm in Irish Hollow, town of Brigham. She remembered going with granddad, hauling grain in a wagon to Hydes Mill, and also riding the milk wagon to the Pikes Peak cheese factory.
In 1929, she moved with her family to Janesville, attended St. Mary’s School and graduated from Janesvile High School, class of 1939. In 1942, she married Ken Bienash and raised a family of six children. Kathryn worked for the State of Wisconsin for thirty years. After she and her husband retired, they moved to a home on the Mississippi River near Potosi, and later moved to Galena, IL. They were charter members of Harbour Place Antiques Mall in Dubuque, IA.
Kathryn is survived by her children, Kenlyn Hamilton of Janesville, Kristine (Joe) Ryan and Kevin (Janet) Bienash of Beloit, Kelly (Charles) Starr of Sun Prairie, and Kim (Jena) Bienash of Selmer, TN; nine grandchildren, Laura Collins, Lucy Anderson, Al Newell, Max Turnmire, Tab Turnmire, Bridget Ware, Crystal Dollard, Ken and Sara Bienash; five step-grandchildren, eleven great-grandchildren, and two great-great grandchildren. She is also survived by a brother, William (Matt) Moran of South Beloit, IL; a sister, Lucy MacMoran of Colorado and many nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents, husband, her dear son, Kenneth F. Bienash, beloved grandsons, Damian and Clay Bienash, sisters Peggy Dunne, Arline Leverenz, Nancy MacEwan, Mary Hearn, and a brother, Clifford (Tim) Moran.
Graveside services will be held at 11 a.m., Friday, January 11, 2013, at St. Bridget Cemetery near Ridgeway, where Kathryn’s great-grandparents, grandparents, and parents are buried. A memorial service will be held at 10 a.m., Saturday, January 12, 2013, at St. Elizabeth Manor in Footville, WI.
“All of her life she was to personify the best of her Irish heritage – a warm and generous heart, undauntable faith in her God, unswerving allegiance to the Democratic Party, heroic resiliency in trouble and always, always, an unquenchable sense of humor.”
– from “My Wild Irish Mother” by Mary Higgins Clark
The Master’s Way
“Not ours to know the reason why,
Unanswered is our prayer,
But ours to wait for God’s own time
To life the cross we bear;
Not ours to know the reason why,
From loved ones we must part,
But ours to live in faith and hope,
Though bleeding to the heart;
Not ours to know the reason
Why this anguish, strife and pain,
But ours to know a crown of thorns
Sweet graces for us gain,
A cross, a bleeding heart, and a crown –
What greater gifts are given?
Be still, my heart, and murmur not;
These are the keys to Heaven”
Written by Father Wagoner, who officiated at Kathryn’s wedding,
June 20, 1942
