Date of Birth:
Thursday, October 28, 1920
Date of Death:
Monday, March 4, 2013
Age:
92 years old

M. M. “Babe” Spaniol

The memorial mass for M. M. “Babe” Spaniol will be at 9:00a.m. Friday, June 21, 2013 in the River Park Chapel at Macken Funeral Home, with the Rev. Paul E. Nelson officiating.  Visitation will be held from 4:00pm to 7:00pm on Thursday, June 20, 2013 at the funeral home and one half hour prior to the service.  Burial will be in Fort Snelling National Cemetery in Minneapolis with military honors celebrated for Dick Spaniol and the two will be interred together.

Babe, 92, of Rochester, Minnesota, died peacefully Monday, March 4, 2013 at Madonna Towers Skilled Care Unit after a short illness.

Babe (Margaret Mary) was born on October 28, 1920 in Saint Cloud, Minnesota to Joseph and Marie Skumautz.  She was a proud member of the Drum & Bugle Corp at Cathedral (St. Cloud) High School, graduating in 1938.  She married her high school sweetheart, Richard “Dick” Spaniol on April 25, 1944 and celebrated 67 years together.  They lived in Rochester since 1957.

Babe was a member of St. Pius X Catholic Church, active in the St. Jude’s Rosary Group for 60 plus years.  She worked at Erdman’s Courtesy Center for 12 years; bowled on the IBM Garden League for 35 years.

Enjoying her gardens, Babe won numerous awards from the Rochester Garden Club.  She was an exceptional seamstress, enjoyed cooking and baking for her family, reading and working crossword puzzles.  But Babe’s passion for playing bridge in many bridge clubs continued on into weekly games at Madonna Towers where she resided for the past three years.  And when the great grandchildren visited, the air was filled with fun and laughter as they enjoyed playing dominoes.

She is survived by her daughter, Toni Deters of Rochester; a son, Philip (Cathy) of Houston, Texas; a daughter-in-law, Kathy Spaniol of Eyota; 8 grandchildren, Nissa (Phil) Kraling, Matthew (Geneva) Deters, Zak (Dawn) Spaniol, Josh Spaniol, Kari (Mathew) Busch, and Joseph (Kayla) Deters all of Rochester, Alaina Spaniol of Houston, TX and Michael Spaniol of Denver, CO and 15 great grandchildren.  She is also survived by 2 sisters, Joan Host of Brooklyn Park, MN and Terese Marie (Bill) Gorman of Laughlin, Nevada.  She was preceded in death by her husband Dick Spaniol in 2011; son, Rick in 2005 and two sisters.

Memorials are preferred to Madonna Towers and Seasons Hospice of Rochester, Minnesota.

Macken Funeral Home in charge of arrangements.

Online condolences are welcome at www.mackenfuneralhome.com