1919
Katherine
2014
Katherine "Kathy" Faye Picel
March 15, 1919 — December 5, 2014
Grand Marais - Katherine Faye Picel
Katherine "Kathy" Faye Picel, age 95, of Grand Marais died at the Henry Ford Hospice Respite Center in Southfield, Michigan on Friday, December 5, 2014. After spending the summer in Grand Marais, Kathy had been living with her daughter Helen and son-in-law George Bell in West Bloomfield, Michigan.
Kathy was born in Grand Marais on March 15, 1919, to Axel and Helen (Johnson/Lumppio) Newberg.
Kathy grew up in Grand Marais, attended Grand Marais High School and graduated valedictorian of the Class of 1937. During her growing-up years she and Evelyn Williamson, her good buddy, enjoyed exploring the woods and beaches of Grand Marais, sometimes venturing out onto the Lake Superior icebergs.
After graduation, Kathy enrolled at Northern Michigan University, then called Northern State Teachers College. She worked at the college bookstore helping pay her way, and graduated in 1941 with a degree in secondary education.
Upon graduation she taught high school home economics in Trenary, Michigan for one year. The following year she taught the same subject in Hemlock, Michigan in the Lower Peninsula.
In 1943 she married Frank C. Picel of Connellsville, Pennsylvania, who was serving in the U. S. Coast Guard stationed in Grand Marais. Frank preceded her in death in 1995.
After their marriage, Frank and Kathy lived in Grand Marais on Randolph Street next door to the Newberg Home. Their six children were born during this first period of time they lived in Grand Marais. Kathy taught home economics and other subjects for several years in the late '40's in Grand Marais.
When the Grand Marais Airport closed in 1959, Frank, an air traffic controller, was transferred to the Marquette County Airport. The family moved to Negaunee, Michigan to be near his work.
Kathy devoted the next 30 years to raising her family and furthering her education. She returned to Northern Michigan University in the late 1960's to earn her degree in elementary education. For the next ten years she did extensive substitute teaching in the Negaunee School System. She also taught reading and language arts to adults through the community education program in Negaunee - an endeavor she found especially rewarding.
During their 30 years in Negaunee, Kathy and Frank returned frequently to Grand Maraisa�"it was always home to them. In 1989 they returned there to live permanently, building a home on Randolph Street near their original house.
During her lifetime, Kathy was an active member of the Grand Marais Methodist Church and Mitchell Methodist Church of Negaunee.
Kathy was a devoted mother, a lover of education and booksa�"she made sure that all of her children graduated from collegea�"and she was an excellent seamstress and cook. In addition to her homemaking skills she was a "punster" par excellence. She loved a good joke and was an inveterate story teller.
All twelve of Kathy's siblings preceded her in death.
She is survived by her six children and fifteen grandchildren: Helen Bell (George) of West Bloomfield, Mi, son Wyeth Warner; Charles Picel (Laura) of Peachtree City, Ga, sons Andrew, Matthew, and Nicholas; Tina Barsky (Joe) of Minneapolis, Mn, son Daniel, daughter Christina; Kurt Picel (Mary) of Woodridge, Illinois, sons Alexander, Jeffrey, and Mark, daughter Katherine; Melanie Picel-Bell (Richard) of Bloomfield Township, Mi, sons Samuel, Lucas, and Jacob; and Matthew Picel of West Bend, Wi, daughter Hannah, son Joshua. Also surviving are 14 nieces and nephews and several cousins.
Services will be held at the Grand Marais Methodist Church on Monday December 29, 2014. Visitation will be from 11:00 AM until 12:00 noon. Pastor Ian McDonald will conduct the funeral service at 12:00 noon. Interment will be at the Rose Hill Cemetery in Grand Marais on Tuesday, May 26, 2015 at 10:00 a.m.
Katherine "Kathy" Faye Picel, age 95, of Grand Marais died at the Henry Ford Hospice Respite Center in Southfield, Michigan on Friday, December 5, 2014. After spending the summer in Grand Marais, Kathy had been living with her daughter Helen and son-in-law George Bell in West Bloomfield, Michigan.
Kathy was born in Grand Marais on March 15, 1919, to Axel and Helen (Johnson/Lumppio) Newberg.
Kathy grew up in Grand Marais, attended Grand Marais High School and graduated valedictorian of the Class of 1937. During her growing-up years she and Evelyn Williamson, her good buddy, enjoyed exploring the woods and beaches of Grand Marais, sometimes venturing out onto the Lake Superior icebergs.
After graduation, Kathy enrolled at Northern Michigan University, then called Northern State Teachers College. She worked at the college bookstore helping pay her way, and graduated in 1941 with a degree in secondary education.
Upon graduation she taught high school home economics in Trenary, Michigan for one year. The following year she taught the same subject in Hemlock, Michigan in the Lower Peninsula.
In 1943 she married Frank C. Picel of Connellsville, Pennsylvania, who was serving in the U. S. Coast Guard stationed in Grand Marais. Frank preceded her in death in 1995.
After their marriage, Frank and Kathy lived in Grand Marais on Randolph Street next door to the Newberg Home. Their six children were born during this first period of time they lived in Grand Marais. Kathy taught home economics and other subjects for several years in the late '40's in Grand Marais.
When the Grand Marais Airport closed in 1959, Frank, an air traffic controller, was transferred to the Marquette County Airport. The family moved to Negaunee, Michigan to be near his work.
Kathy devoted the next 30 years to raising her family and furthering her education. She returned to Northern Michigan University in the late 1960's to earn her degree in elementary education. For the next ten years she did extensive substitute teaching in the Negaunee School System. She also taught reading and language arts to adults through the community education program in Negaunee - an endeavor she found especially rewarding.
During their 30 years in Negaunee, Kathy and Frank returned frequently to Grand Maraisa�"it was always home to them. In 1989 they returned there to live permanently, building a home on Randolph Street near their original house.
During her lifetime, Kathy was an active member of the Grand Marais Methodist Church and Mitchell Methodist Church of Negaunee.
Kathy was a devoted mother, a lover of education and booksa�"she made sure that all of her children graduated from collegea�"and she was an excellent seamstress and cook. In addition to her homemaking skills she was a "punster" par excellence. She loved a good joke and was an inveterate story teller.
All twelve of Kathy's siblings preceded her in death.
She is survived by her six children and fifteen grandchildren: Helen Bell (George) of West Bloomfield, Mi, son Wyeth Warner; Charles Picel (Laura) of Peachtree City, Ga, sons Andrew, Matthew, and Nicholas; Tina Barsky (Joe) of Minneapolis, Mn, son Daniel, daughter Christina; Kurt Picel (Mary) of Woodridge, Illinois, sons Alexander, Jeffrey, and Mark, daughter Katherine; Melanie Picel-Bell (Richard) of Bloomfield Township, Mi, sons Samuel, Lucas, and Jacob; and Matthew Picel of West Bend, Wi, daughter Hannah, son Joshua. Also surviving are 14 nieces and nephews and several cousins.
Services will be held at the Grand Marais Methodist Church on Monday December 29, 2014. Visitation will be from 11:00 AM until 12:00 noon. Pastor Ian McDonald will conduct the funeral service at 12:00 noon. Interment will be at the Rose Hill Cemetery in Grand Marais on Tuesday, May 26, 2015 at 10:00 a.m.
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