Jodell "Jody" Marie Pangerl

Jody Pangerl passed away unexpectedly at the MHealth Fairview Hospital in Wyoming at the age of 65. 

Jodell Marie Pangerl was born October 20, 1956 to James and Marcella (Runa) Pangerl at North Memorial Hospital in Robbinsdale.  In October of 1959 Michael was welcomed and February 1961 Thomas was born, completing the family.  Despite being named and baptized Jodell, Jody’s dad always called her “NeeNee”.  Her dad rarely used her given name and continued to call her NeeNee for the rest of his days. 

Jody and her family lived in the Twin Cities area until Jody was ready to start first grade. Her parents bought a farm on Highway 70 and the family moved to Pine City. Jody attended country school in Rock Creek, transferring to the Pine City Schools when entering the sixth grade. In 1974, Jody graduated from Pine City High School.

When Jody was a young girl on the family farm, she loved her two horses Mrs. Ed and Black. She belonged to the Chengwatana Saddle Club and took part with Black in many Pine City parades. Jody always dreamed of being a nurse and helping others. During her teen years she volunteered as a candy striper at Lakeside Nursing Home and worked at Dave’s Truck Stop.

After graduation she enrolled in the nursing program at the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth. In 1978, she graduated with a B.S. degree in Nursing, completing a lifelong dream! Her first nursing job was at St. Mary’s Hospital in Rochester, Minnesota. 

In the fall of 1978, Jody’s mother Marcella passed away. Jody resigned from her nursing job at St. Mary’s and moved home to help her dad and younger brother Ferd. She found another nursing job at Hillcrest Nursing Home in Rush City and worked part-time at Dave’s Truck Stop. While working at Hillcrest one extremely harsh and snowy winter, Jody was enjoying a day off being snowed in, that was until her boss called and said he was sending a four-wheel truck to pick-up her up for work!

She had a special group of girlfriends, fondly known as “The Lip Sisters”. One of their shenanigans was when they stacked picnic tables under the second story window of the room her dad was in at Rush City Hospital in an effort to “bust him out”. “Oh boy, hello Lip Sisters!”

In 1984, Jody moved to Bethel Alaska and worked in the emergency room of the local hospital. On occasion she aided with the flights transferring neonatal babies needing more specialized care to Anchorage with them. While working in Bethel she met Gary Utt, they were married June 28,1986. In 1988, they moved to Fort Lee, Virginia and this is where Laura was born. Jody continued to work in a private hospital about an hour drive from Fort Lee.

In 1993, Jody and Laura returned to Pine City, Laura started kindergarten at St. Mary’s School and Jody began working at the Cambridge Medical Center. She worked with homebound and hospice patients as well as patients in the hospital.

Jody loved to travel and visited countries throughout Europe: England, Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland and Spain.

In the late 1990’s, Jody retired from nursing due to health issues. She continued to keep busy sewing, baking, gardening and arranging silk flowers. Jody especially loved being a grandmother and spending time with Alexis!

Jody is survived by her daughter Laura Dennis of Pine City; grandchild Alexis Dennis of Pine City; brother Michael (Susan) Pangerl of Brooklyn Park; sister-in-law Sandy Pangerl of Pine City; nieces Kadi (Dan) Edberg of Stacy, Sara (Justin) Tveit of Blaine, Stefanie (Ryan) Jones of Bloomington; great-nephews Tanner and Landon Tveit of Blaine, Jude Jones of Bloomington; aunts Agnes Kryzer and Kathryn Schlaeger both of Pine City; uncle John (Alice) Runa of White Bear Lake; several cousins and friends.

She was preceded in death by her parents James and Marcella Pangerl; stepmother Carol Pangerl; brother Thomas (Ferd) Pangerl.

Monsignor Aleksander Suchan will celebrate a Mass of Christian Burial for Jody: 10:30 AM; Wednesday, August 31, 2022 at the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Pine City. A time of visitation and reviewal is planned from 5-8 PM; Tuesday (8/30) with a prayer service at 7:30 PM at the Swanson Funeral Chapel in Pine City. There will also be a time of visitation and reviewal that will take place one hour prior to the Mass in the St. Anthony Commons area at the church. The interment will take place in Calvary Catholic Cemetery, Pine City.

Memorials in Jody's memory may be directed to Minnesota Chapter of the: 
Disabled American Veterans Association, 20 West 12th Street, 3rd Floor, St. Paul, MN 55155
or American Diabetes Association, 715 Florida Avenue South, Suite 307, Golden Valley, MN 55426

Funeral arrangements are entrusted to the: Funeral and Cremation Service of Pine City, Swanson Chapel
www.FuneralAndCremationService.com