Gertrude Willenbring was born June 17, 1873, the 4th child of Joseph and Susan (Klosterman) Willenbring. On May 18, 1897, she married John Backes at Farming, Minnesota. They had 3 children while living in Farming, and in 1902, the family moved to North Dakota. They homesteaded in Muskego township, 2 miles northeast of the current Lake Darling dam, and raised 8 children, Leonard, Grace, Arnold, Alfonse, Norbert, George, Joseph and Louise. Arnold became a priest and both daughters became nuns. Grace became Sister Rose Gertrude and Louise became Sister Helen.

She died Saturday, January 30, 1937, at her home after a long battle with cancer. Sister Rose Gertrude came home and ministered to her mother for the last two months of her life. At her funeral, her son, Arnold, said the mass.
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Mrs. John Backes, 63, Foxholm Pioneer Is Cancer Victim
Death came Saturday, Jan. 30, to Mrs. John Backes, 63, resident of Muskego township, 12 miles northeast of Foxholm, since 1902. Mrs. Backes had been suffering a year from cancer.
Funeral services were held Wednesday from St. Henry's church with the Rev. Kopp officiating and Rev. Arnold Backes, a son, assisting him. Burial took place in St. Henry's cemetery.
Mrs. Backes was born in Stearns county, Minn., in 1874 and came to the Foxholm territory with her husband and family in 1902. She is survived by her husband and seven children. Leonard Backes, Glenburn; Rev. Arnold Backes, Grenora; A., near Glenburn; George, Foxholm; and Joe at home, are sons; and Sister Rose Gertrude and Sister Helen, both of Spring Valley, Ill., are daughters. Sister Rose Gertrude who is a nurse, has been at home during the past two and a half months caring for her mother.
CCC boys of the Foxholm camp opened the road from the camp to the Backes home, a distance of six miles, in order that members of the family could get into Minot.
**The Ward County Independent, Thursday, February 11, 1937, Page 2.