Nichole Gean Polendo

Nichole (Nikki) Gean, having said goodbye to her husband, 3 children & mother after a long battle with complications from cancer, fell asleep in death at Altru Hospital, North Dakota on September 9, 2024. She was just 13 days from her 42nd birthday.

 Nikki was born to Maureen & Tim Drake on September 22, 1982, in Houston, Texas. She was a beautiful girl with blonde hair & an infectious curiosity & award-winning smile! Her parents moved to Crookston, MN when she was 10 years old, and Crookston is where she decided to stay. When her mother remarried, DJuro Cekarmis took her in with open arms and became a father to her. 

 Nichole graduated from Cathedral Elementary School and from Crookston High School, where she met the love of her life, Mario Polendo. They married on June 20, 2015. Together they had 3 beautiful children, whom she loved deeply- Mario Jr, Alejandra, and Corbin. Their love story continued through their marriage, upholding their vow to stick together in sickness and in health. As Nichole’s health declined, Mario was always there to comfort and reassure her. Whatever hospital Nichole was in, you would find Mario by her side. He was her rock. 

 Once Nikki married Mario, she was fully embraced & loved by the entire family! She finally had brothers & sisters and enjoyed all the special relationships made with each one over the years! They became a special part of her life! 

 Nikki was affectionately called “my yellow rose of Texas” by her mother, which might explain her love of flowers! Purple was her favorite color and her favorite pastimes were talking (she could talk the hind leg off a horse!), shopping, crafting & planning her children’s birthday parties. 

 Nikki was a firecracker-full of spice and very opinionated! 

 Some of her most memorable moments were spent with her family in Indiana. When she was younger, she traveled the states and into Canada with her grandparents and enjoyed camping trips with them and her cousins. She enjoyed special vacations with them, too- Disney World, Hawaii, and Cheyenne Wyoming for Frontier Days. In 2017, she was delighted to take her own family to Indiana for her cousin’s wedding, where they got to visit with extended family members! 

 In 2022, Nichole was diagnosed with cancer. She faced it with determination & courage, never complaining about the trials she faced or those that would come. And come they did. After multiple surgeries, complications arose, one after another, yet she remained positive & brave. She spent most of this past year in the hospital and felt bad she couldn’t be home with her family. After her long, heroic battle, her suffering and pain finally came to an end.

 Nikki leaves behind many who loved her, who will mourn her death and celebrate the life she lived. They include Mario Polendo (husband); Mario Jr, Alejandra & Corbin (children); Maureen Cekarmis (mother); Phillip Danie (Godfather); DJuro Cekarmis; Richard & Betty Craig (maternal grandparents); Aunt Patty (husband Tracy); Casandra Potter (aunt); cousins Ashely (Curt) Terry, Tiffany (Matt) Hall, Chris (Nicole) Ingram, Dan (Melissa) Ingram; the Polendo Family including Natalia Polendo (mother-in-law); Carmen, Noemi (sisters-in-law); Abel & Michael (brothers-in-law); Jason (nephew) along with many other aunts, uncles & cousins along with Kathy Schroeder who thought of Nikki as the little sister she never had. 

 The family would like to acknowledge her special friends Trish & Arial Polendo and for the entire staff at Altru Hospital who cared for Nikki during her turbulent health years. 

 Those who proceeded her in death include her father, Tim Drake; Ricardo Polendo (father-in-law), her uncle Richard Craig, and Miss Colleen (Coke)Thompson (Godmother).

 There will be a prayer service and time for sharing of memories at 2:00 PM on Saturday, September 14, 2024, at Stenshoel-Houske Funeral Home. Msgr. David Baumgartner will be presiding. Visitation with the family will begin at noon. The family extends an invitation to join them for a lunch following services at Scobey’s Bar and Grill in Crookston. Burial will take place at Calvary Cemetery on Monday, September 16, 2024, at 2:30 PM. Livestreaming will be available, the link to which can be found by going to www.stenshoelhouske.com/obituaries and following the prompts to Nichole’s obituary page. In lieu of flowers, a donation in Nichole’s honor would be appreciated and can be made directly to the family. For more information, please contact the funeral home.