Deborah J. Antonelli

Deborah Joan Antonelli, age 61 of St. Paul, MN, passed away on Saturday, August 23, 2025, at the Fairview Range Medical Center in Hibbing, MN, after an extended battle with cancer. She was born on June 25, 1964, in Minneapolis, MN, to Jordan Joseph “Joe” and Sandra Ann “Sandy” (Saari) Antonelli.

Deborah graduated from Rochester John Marshall High School and went on to attend the University of Minnesota and Jacksonville University, earning a bachelor's degree in economics. She then worked at General Mills for over 30 years with a career that spanned multiple roles, from early, highly technical hands-on positions to her final work guiding and directing a component of the General Mills information technology group as it moved to an increasingly complex infrastructure. The team she built and mentored was a source of pride for her, which continued to get her attention and focus as she established a transition plan to address the team’s succession when she retired earlier this year. Deborah was a voracious reader and was always on the lookout for a new favorite author. She demolished entire catalogs of prolific writers like Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. Her rigorous self-discipline and focus on all aspects of her life were defining qualities.

Above all, her family was central to her life. She took on the role of co-guardian of her younger sister Kristin and spent a great deal of time with her mother in Hibbing, helping her wherever she could. In the process, she got to know the people of her mother’s Real Life community as her own valued friends. In her daily life, she was a person who tried to make everyone she interacted with feel a little better about their days. Her biggest concern in her last years and days was to make sure that everyone was taken care of when she was gone, and she was grateful for the willingness of her family and those closest to her to be a little closer at a difficult time, to do so much to make her departure easier to face.

Deborah is survived by her mother, Sandra Antonelli; siblings, Jordan Michael (Rita nee Swanson) Antonelli of Portland, OR, Dr. Patrick Joseph (Almut Winterstein) Antonelli of Gainesville, FL, and Kristen Annemarie Antonelli of Virginia, MN; aunts, Kathleen (Elnes) Saari, Anne Trygstad, Judy (Antonelli) Guidarelli, Mary Saari and Deirdre “DeeDee” Antonelli; sister in spirit Ann (Keith) Rayner, niece Karina Antonelli and nephew Joseph (Georgia Papadogeorgou) Antonelli; great-nephew, Stefanos Papadogeorgos Antonelli; and numerous cousins, family and friends.

She is preceded in death by her father, Dr. J. J. Antonelli; uncles, Dr. Dennis Saari, Dr. George Saari, Donald Saari, and Charles Antonelli; maternal grandparents, Harriet Saari, George Saari, and Ida Saari; and paternal grandparents, Katherine Healy, Bruno Antonelli, and Donna Antonelli.

A private celebration of life will be held at a later date.

Arrangements are with the Dougherty Funeral Home of Hibbing, MN.