Submitted Photo The stained-glass window in Cornerstone Church, Minot, is one of the largest such windows west of the Mississippi River. Recently more information has become known about the designer and designing this window.

The Minot Daily News published a story several years ago about the large stained-glass window with an image of Jesus Christ on it at Cornerstone Church, formerly First Presbyterian Church of Minot. The window is one of the largest such windows west of the Mississippi River.

Recently the granddaughter of the man who designed and installed the window contacted the newspaper, saying she had more information to provide.

Jessica Beyer of Morris, Minnesota, said her grandfather, the late Eugene Marggraff of Winona, Minnesota, was the designer of the stained-glass window in First Presbyterian Church in Minot. She came across a story online published in The Minot Daily News in December 2011.

“He created the design, hand-picked every piece of glass for the window and had Conway Universal (a company still operating in Winona) cut, paint and installed the glass when it was finished,” Beyer said.

The window was installed at the Minot church in May 1957 and the church was dedicated the following month, according to The Minot Daily News.

Beyer said her grandfather designed the window in Winona and was “very particular” about the glass he used.

“The glass he used primarily came from Germany. He studied art in Germany and that is where he went for his schooling before coming back to the states. There is some amazing history there as he fled Germany and skied across the Swiss Alps into Switzerland (where he met my grandmother) when the war broke out,” Beyer said, adding, “He turned an old school into his studio and home.”

Beyer said her grandfather was commissioned to design church windows all over but mostly in the region. “I unfortunately do not have a full list of all the churches he designed. He did all the art work, and then worked with a glass studio and hand-picked all of the colors and glass to use for each piece of the design. Most of the glass he used was from Germany,” she said.

Beyer said she is not sure if her grandfather designed any other stained-glass windows for buildings in North Dakota. His studio and home were destroyed in a fire. Beyer said her grandfather died in 1979.