Celeste Perdue

Celeste Perdue, 79,

Minot was welcomed

home to heaven on Fri-

day, September 23, 2022,

after a brief battle with

cancer.

Celeste Murphy was

born November 1, 1942,

in Detroit, Michigan to

Cecil and Esther Murphy.

Celeste was the oldest fol-

lowed by three brothers.

In 1946, the family moved

to Coleharbor, ND where

she attended school until

the 10th grade. In 1958,

the family moved to

Minot, Celeste was very

excited to attend Bishop

Ryan as a junior the first

year the school opened

and graduated in 1960.

She then attended the

Minot College of Business

for one year.

In the summer of 1961,

Celeste met the love of

her life Edward Perdue,

on a blind date setup by

her best friend, Barbara

whom she had known

since 1st grade. Even

though she spilled her

coke in his lap, they con-

tinued dating and were

married on October 6,

1962. They made their

home in Minot and raised

their six children, Micha-

el, Brenda, Barbara, Kath-

erine, Nathan & Patricia.

Celeste began her work-

ing career at Educators

National Life Insurance

Company, which was

started by her father Cecil

Murphy, working there

until 1968. Celeste

worked for many years as

a clerk for Burlington

Northern Railroad. In July

of 1984, Celeste began

working for Ward County

Social Services as an Eli-

gibility Benefits coordina-

tor until she retired in

May of 2008 after 23

years. Celeste was very

devoted to her job and to

helping her clients.

Life in the Murphy

home always centered

around music. From a

very young age, Celeste

would travel with her

family to Minot and sur-

rounding towns to sing in

the Marion Choir directed

by Father Fred Nelson.

Celeste loved to sing and

later in life joined the Red

Hat Society. She contin-

ued sharing her love for

music by playing piano

and singing for her fellow

residents at Wellington

Assisted Living facility.

There she was frequently

found playing cards or

bingo in the afternoon

while enjoying cookies

and coffee.

Celeste was an active

member of St. Leo’s

Catholic Church and for

many years served as the

treasurer for the Catholic

Daughters Association.

She was also a proud

member of the ND Nation-

al Guard Women’s Auxili-

ary.

Celeste is survived by

her sons, Michael (Penny)

and Nathan (Deb) Perdue;

daughters, Brenda (Donn

Fry) Woiwode, Barbara

Bost, Katherine (Jim)

Reichel, and Patricia Ea-

ton; 18 grandchildren; 19

great-grandchildren;

brothers, Cecil (Donna)

and Patrick Murphy;

sister-in-law, Cecilia Mur-

phy; and many in-laws,

nieces, nephews, and

cousins.

Celeste was preceded in

death by her parents,

Cecil and Esther Murphy;

husband, Edward Perdue;

infant daughter, Mary B.

Perdue; brother, John

Murphy; sisters-in-law,

Karen Murphy and Pris-

cilla Taylor; son-in-law,

Dwayne Bost; father- and

mother-in-law Tilmon

and Berdene Perdue.

Mom, you will forever

be in our hearts, and we

love you so much. We can

never thank you enough

for your unending caring

love and continuous

corrections of our gram-

mar. While we are so very

sad at your passing, we

know how gloriously hap-

py you are to be reunited

with Dad & all of our

loved ones who have

passed before you.

Visitation: Friday, Sep-

tember 30 from 4:00 –

6:00 p.m. at

Thompson-Larson Fun-

eral Home in Minot with a

Rosary Service to follow

at 6 p.m.

Mass of Christian Buri-

al: Saturday, October 1,

2022 at 11 a.m. at St. Leo’s

Catholic Church, Minot.

Burial: at Rosehill

Memorial Park in Minot.

The service will be

livestreamed for the pub-

lic to view and can be ac-

cessed by going to the

Thompson-Larson Fun-

eral home website:

thompsonlarson.com

Those wishing to sign

the online register and

share memories may ac-

cess the online obituaries

section at

(thompsonlarson.com).