Kathleen "Kathy" Lutgen

Kathleen “Kathy” (Matthews) Lutgen, age 89, of Saint Cloud passed away peacefully and surrounded by her loving family on Saturday, November 30 at Cherrywood Advanced Living in Saint Cloud, Minnesota. A visitation will take place on Friday, December 6, 2024, from 9:30 AM to 11:00 AM at Holy Spirit Catholic Church, 2405 Walden Way, Saint Cloud, Minnesota. A memorial service will immediately follow the visitation at 11:00 AM. Burial will take place at Assumption Cemetery in Saint Cloud, Minnesota.

Kathy was born June 6, 1935, to Madeline (Murray) and William Matthews, in St. Cloud, Minnesota. She grew up and lived most of her life in Saint Cloud. Kathy attended Cathedral High School and graduated from the College of Saint Benedict, Saint Joseph, Minnesota. Kathy obtained her degree in education and taught elementary school in Robbinsdale and Saint Cloud, Minnesota. Later in life, she returned to her career in education at Apollo High School where she worked as a paraprofessional for twenty-five years. Kathy loved children; helping young people discover a passion for learning was a true joy of her life. 

Kathy married Richard Peter Lutgen on June 6, 1960, at St. Peter’s Catholic Church in Saint Cloud. They together raised three daughters Lisa, Julie, and Kari until Richard’s untimely death in 1980. Kathy was a devoted mother. She treasured her children and embraced every moment with them. She took on the challenges of single parenting and became a dedicated role model to her three girls. She strove to exemplify the positive values of commitment to family, care for others, hard work, and resilience. Later in life, Kathy became the grandmother to eight grandchildren and relished her role as “Nana”. She gave generously of her time to her grandchildren and brightened their lives with her fun and feisty personality, warm smile, and caring ways. 

Kathy is survived by her daughters Lisa (Robert) Poganski, St. Cloud; Julie (late David) Hagen, St. Cloud and Kari (Jeremy) Mendel, St. Cloud. She is also survived by her eight grandchildren, John (Nicole) Poganski, Thomas (Amber) Poganski, Parker (Emily) Hagen, Gabrielle (Darek) Stachowski, Shaelyn Hagen, Joseph Mendel, Joshua Mendel and Jaden Mendel, and five great-grandchildren. Kathy was dearly loved by her family, many friends, neighbors and co-workers. She brought out the good in others, easily shared her warm heart, and loved to make the people around her happy. She will be greatly missed and cherished in our hearts forever.

She is preceded in death by her husband Richard Peter Lutgen, her parents, William and Madeline (Murray) Matthews, her siblings, Leroy Matthews, RoseAnn Bohlig, Mary Schnettler, Maxine Lester, and her son-in-law David Hagen.

The family would like to thank the staff at Cherrywood Advanced Living in St. Cloud and the hospice team at St. Croix Hospice for their extraordinary care.