Margaret E. Mangan

MargEl Mangan passed away surrounded by her four children the morning of May 25th in Fort Collins, CO.

MargEl came into the world the youngest of four daughters, born to Ralph and Irene Connole on February 7, 1936. It was the coldest February in Iowa history, with temperatures averaging 9 degrees and snow drifts up to 20 feet. Her initial days on Earth would mark the first instance in which MargEl would display an unrelenting determination to survive.

Since childhood, MargEl has possessed a mischievous spirit, looking for trouble to make life grander and more exciting, but her charm kept her unscathed from repercussions. While consistently achieving what she set her mind to, she never sacrificed fun along the way. She kept this temperament until her final days.

In her senior year of high school, she met a boy that would change everything. Peter Jerold (Jerry) Mangan quickly captivated MargEl, and in the new year of 1958, they were married.

Their love story, while full, ended tragically too soon. At 27 years old, MargEl was left with four children, the youngest only six months old, when the love of her life was killed in a car accident. This would be the next time MargEl would prove her grit for survival. In the wake of Jerry’s death, MargEl’s older sister Nadine temporarily moved in with her to help the children and ended up staying for sixty years, raising her niece and nephews like her own. MargEl never remarried, her commitment to her husband, even in death, remained steadfast.

In the 74 years she lived in DeWitt, MargEl worked at the Winsther Motel and the Co-Op but spent most of her career as a nurse for Dr. Ash and Dr. Synder, sacrificially serving the DeWitt community who grew up in her care for many decades.

In 2010, MargEl and Nadine moved to Fort Collins, CO, mere feet away from her daughter, son-in-law, and three grandchildren. MargEl lived with emphysema, and the crisp Colorado air made breathing more manageable. In 2018, Nadine passed peacefully, leaving MargEl without her gift from God and once again giving her a reason to demonstrate her resiliency. MargEl spent her remaining years watching her grandchildren grow up, exercising her Irish stubbornness for her daughter, dishing advice to her sons, picking up the phone for the regulars who called eagerly to hear her voice, and caring for her dog Daphney.

MargEl leaves behind four children, Greg (Dawn), Mitch (Jean), Bryan (Cyndy), Colleen (Robert); eight grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. For 88 years, MargEl Mangan sat at the helm, charting and navigating her Mangan clan through life’s bumpiest and unpredictable storms, always steering them into smoother, sunnier days. There was no circumstance too challenging, no fear too overwhelming, and no person too intimidating for MargEl. She was unsinkable.

She loved without hesitation. A stranger became a friend before the end of a conversation. Laughter trickled from the rooms she occupied. She treated everyone with genuine compassion and understanding but never faltered for anyone’s will but her own.

She was the embodiment of love. The example of a good neighbor. A selfless servant. She personified strength. She could fix the power tools she kept stocked in the shed, show up to Little League games, remember to call a friend and make dinner for six without wavering in her optimism and humor. She is the matriarch. Her loss in the lives of those she touched is extraordinary, but the love she taught and gave to them is greater than the world.

Please join us on; Saturday June 8th, 2024,  Visitation begins at 8:30 AM and the Service Starts at 11:00 AM. St Joseph Church 417 6th Ave., DeWitt, Iowa 52742.

Arrangements are in the care of Schultz Funeral Home, DeWitt. Condolences may be expressed at www.schultzfuneralhomes.com

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