Mary Braaten

Mary Braaten was born on July 17, 1952, in Devils Lake, ND to Jimmy and June (Gilbraith) Braaten. She attended school in and graduated from Crary Public School. She attended Lake Region Community College and graduated from Mayville State University. She was the Director of the Carnegie Public Library in Devils Lake from 1974 – 1977. She obtained a Masters of Arts in Library Science from the University of Denver and returned to teach and serve as Assistant Library Director at Mayville State University. She worked at the State Library in Bismarck, ND, for several years, where she served as Rural Library Consultant, Reference Librarian, Government Services Librarian, and finally as Director of Information Services. During her time at the State Library, she served on and chaired many local, state, and regional library boards. She was chosen as one of 50 librarians from the US to attend a week long workshop studying at the Library of Congress in Washington DC. She was included in the American Library Association’s Who’s Who in American Libraries for several years. She also served as the Librarian at the ND State Penitentiary for one summer. In 1986 she returned to the family farm at Crary and worked with her parents and two uncles until her father’s death in 1998. She farmed one year after that and then rented the farmland out. She continued to raise cattle and horses, and helped the land renters with farm work. Mary served on the Farm Service Agency Ramsey County board for several years, chairing the Committee at times. She also served on the Lake Region Library Board for part of a term, resigning to care for her mother, who had been diagnosed with ALS. She also helped to care for her remaining paternal uncle and mother until their deaths. After her mother’s death, she moved permanently to her home in Doyon, ND. Mary played organ at area churches and took many wedding photographs as an amateur photographer. She loved horses, collecting antiques and reading. Mary is the last survivor of her immediate family. She is survived by aunts, uncles, and cousins. At Mary’s request, cremation has taken place and no funeral services will be held. The cremains will be buried at the Crary cemetery at a private family service in the spring of 2016. Mary passed away on Wednesday, January 20, 2016 at her home in Doyon.