MEET PARISHIONER NANCY AUS: The Role of Faith in Raising a Family

As Nancy Aus thinks back to her early years with her husband, Carl, she recalls moments of faith across the decades. Nancy and Carl met at Wheaton High School and they became good friends with each other. While he was Catholic, Nancy was a member of the Swedish Lutheran church. But the difference in faith was never an issue for them.

“When we married after two years of college, we still didn’t fuss over the difference in our religion,” Nancy says.

After marrying, Nancy and Carl moved into an apartment in Wheaton, above the bakery Carl’s father owned. Carl worked for his dad, but two years later in 1957, a banker in Granite Falls told Carl and his father that a bakery was for sale in Granite Falls.

“We thought it was a perfect spot for us and since we had a baby girl by then, we realized we needed our own bakery,” Nancy says. “The town is beautiful with the Minnesota River running along the main street. There were many nice churches in town and Carl immediately joined St. Andrew Catholic Church.”

Nancy admired Carl’s dedication to the parish, and eventually when she was expecting their third child, decided she would join the Church with him. She has been a member of the parish ever since.

The Aus family continued to grow in the years that followed. By 1965, Carl and Nancy had welcomed eight children under the age of 10.

“They were quite the crew,” Nancy says. “We took them to church with us and were proud of our children’s behavior.”

For many years, Nancy taught religion classes and served as a lector at Mass. She joined the choir as well, where she remembers singing in the loft of the church.

“I was a good member of the church and enjoyed it,” she says. In 1979, Nancy and Carl welcomed another child, just five months after their grandson was born. Three more grandchildren came soon after, so in Nancy’s words, their littlest one “did not have to grow up as an only child.” Their large family has always been close. Nancy says when people asked how she managed with so many children, she “prayed a lot and tried to keep a good sense of humor.” Carl passed away in 2010, and they lost their first daughter, as well as a son and grandson through the years. Her faith helped her during these difficult times.

“My love for Jesus and our church has been a great help through these losses,” says Nancy, who has 27 grandchildren and 37 great-grandchildren (with two more on the way).

Nancy remains proud of her large family, seeing them grow and accept faith as their own.

“It was always our greatest joy to see them grow up with a beautiful faith, marry wonderful spouses and raise their children knowing God,” she says. “St. Andrew of Granite Falls is like home to me and I thank God for my faith — God has been very good to me.”

Nancy Aus with one of her grandchildren

Nancy Aus and her late husband, Carl, celebrating their 50th anniversary

Nancy Aus and family