Kathleen Cecelia Kishel

1924 - 2024

Kathleen Cecelia Kishel

Kathleen Cecelia Kishel, formerly of Virginia, passed away in peace on April 12, 2024. During her last months she had the constant, loving care of her daughter, Mary Lee Kishel and Mary Lee's partner, Blake Rodgers.

Kathleen was born in Virginia on September 10, 1924, to Frederick Oral Stickney and Hulda (Walberg) Stickney. Both of her parents had family roots in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Her mother was one of the earliest children born in Virginia. Her mother was an active member of the Virginia Pioneers organization; and it seems that Kathleen took an appreciation of history from her.

Kathleen was a "middle kid" among seven children. Most of her childhood was spent during the Great Depression of the 1930s, sometimes under conditions of want. Nonetheless, she grew up happy, loved, and loving. She was loyal to her parents and to her brothers and sisters for as long as all of them lived.

Kathleen was a proud alumna of Marquette School, and graduated from Roosevelt High School in 1942. She had a love of music and retained her ability on the piano despite years of interruption. From her family's membership in Our Lady of Lourdes parish in Virginia and her years at Marquette, she gained a lifelong foundation for her Catholic faith.

On September 15, 1942, Kathleen and Francis Arthur Kishel were married. After Francis returned from his four years of military service across the South Pacific, they established their own household. Kathleen maintained the home and Francis returned to work at the Oliver Iron Mining Company. They became parishioners at St. John the Baptist Church in Virginia.

Kathleen and Francis remained childless for over eight years. She bore a first son in 1951; two daughters and another son followed over the next nine years. She was a dedicated, loving mother over the coming decades. She was stern and unfailing in her support of her children's education. During those years she did not work outside the home, but she worked hard within it.

In later years Kathleen was employed part-time in the cafeteria at the Cluett-Peabody shirt factory and at the Miners Memorial Building. She always loved to feed people and added a smile and a kind word. For many years she was a key member of the Rosary Society, the funeral choir, and the pastie-making fundraiser at Holy Spirit parish. She also did prep work for Meals on Wheels. She walked to early-morning Mass nearly every day for decades. Later in life she gave companionship and in-home help to several "generations" of parish friends in need. One of her greatest loves was working with Francis in the garden and in the woods at the family lake cabin. During her last years her word-puzzle books gave her great pleasure.

Kathleen was always at her best with younger children. She became a wonderful grandmother, cherished by her kids' children as they grew up.

After Francis passed in late 2000, Kathleen had the sorrow of lonely years; but she kept her ties to the people and things that meant much to her: family, her parish groups, and her friends in town and at the lake. She became the last survivor in her generation on all sides of the family. It was difficult, but she quietly accepted God's will in it.

Kathleen was predeceased by her parents; her husband Francis Kishel; all six of her brothers and sisters; her younger son, Steven Paul Kishel; and her son-in-law, Loren Herreid.

She is survived by her older son, Judge (ret.) Gregory F. Kishel (Karin); her daughters, Kathleen Ann Kishel and Mary Lee Kishel (Blake Rodgers); eight grandchildren; eleven great-grandchildren; and numerous nieces and nephews. Kathleen leaves us with an example of humble but deep religious faith and strong, uncomplicated motherly love. She is now in God's perpetual light.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at Holy Spirit Catholic Church, 306 2nd Street South, Virginia, Minn., on April 19, 2024 at 11 a.m. Father Brandon Moravitz will officiate. Visitation at the church starting at 10 a.m. The service will be livestreamed on the YouTube channel of Holy Spirit Catholic Church. Interment at Calvary Cemetery immediately after the service; luncheon at the parish hall at 12:45 p.m.

Memorials preferred to Marquette School, Virginia.