Margaret Louise Ganzel

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Margaret Louise Ganzel age 89 of Mankato passed away due to natural causes on Wednesday, June 26, 2024 surrounded by family at Cottagewood Senior Living. 

Funeral service will be held at 11:00 a.m., Monday July 8, 2024 at St. John Lutheran Church in Good Thunder. Burial will be at Decoria Cemetery rural Mankato. Visitation will be held from 2 – 4:30 p.m., Sunday, July 7, 2024 at Mankato Mortuary and will continue one hour before the service at the church on Monday. In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred to St. John Lutheran Church, Good Thunder or the donor’s choice. Mankato Mortuary in charge of arrangements. 

Margaret was born on February 15, 1935 to Arthur and Alma (Marks) Sombke in Mankato. She was a 1952 graduate of Good Thunder High School. She received a Diploma for Junior Accounting from Mankato Commercial College in 1953. Margaret started working as a bookkeeper at First National Bank in Mankato and eventually became head bookkeeper. She was united in marriage to Kenneth Ganzel on April 7, 1959 at St. John Lutheran Church in Good Thunder. She quit working at the bank in 1960 to become a fulltime farm wife. Margaret and Kenny resided in rural Decoria Township where they farmed until their retirement.

Margaret was a lifelong member of St. John Lutheran Church where she taught Vacation Bible School for many years. Her greatest joys were her faith, family, and friends. For someone who never had any children, Aunt Margaret was like a mother and grandmother to so many of her and Kenny’s nieces, nephews, godchildren, and foster son, Dan. She had a very generous and supportive nature evident by all the things she did for her “kids” from their youth to adulthood. Nieces and nephews had fun sleepovers at Margaret and Kenny’s. “Margie” enjoyed sewing Halloween and Kiddie parade costumes for them. She was a cake decorator and made their baptism, birthday, first communion, confirmation, graduation, and elaborate tiered wedding cakes. In adulthood, nieces and nephews were always so happy to receive padded hangers knitted by Margaret along with their birthday and Christmas gifts. These are just a few of the things Margaret enjoyed doing for her “kids”.

Margaret loved to entertain, welcoming everyone who knocked on her door, and especially at Christmas time! She very much enjoyed decorating her Christmas tree and the whole house with nativities, Santas, nutcrackers, and family Christmas heirlooms. She would always have several gatherings and meals at their house for family and friends throughout the holiday season. Margaret was an excellent cook and baker! She published a cookbook titled “Country Cooking” at age 83 so everyone could enjoy making her recipes. Her cookbook also contained recipes for all the German dishes and sweets she used to make that were passed down to her from her family for generations. Margaret enjoyed making the red cabbage (with help from Kenny) for Redeemer Lutheran Church’s German Dinner every spring! She was very proud of her German heritage and German was her first language! Many of Margaret’s cousins from Germany would come to visit family and for nearly 40 years, she and Kenny enjoyed hosting them! Margaret and Kenny enjoyed traveling and had made two trips to Germany, one for an anniversary party and the other for a wedding.

Margaret’s other interests included collecting Hummels, Fenton Glass, and antiques, especially dolls. Her additional pastimes included traveling, gardening, sewing, knitting, reading, listening to polka and country music, genealogy, and playing cards, especially Pfeffer.

Margaret is survived by her sister-in-law, Beverly Sombke of Good Thunder; niece and godchild, Christine (Kevin) FitzSimmons and their family, Ashley (Louis), Jessica (Dinesh), and Megan, nephew, Paul (Ellen) Sombke and their sons, Joshua (Bailey) and Samuel (Kayley Massa); great nephews, Luke and Marc Sombke; foster son, Daniel (Silvia) Bohlke; nephew, Douglas (Ramona) Coopman and their family, Christopher (Lynn), and Emily (Clayton); nephew, Darrel (Carla) Coopman and their family, Megan (Todd), Lindsey (Kurt), Mitch (Kayla); nephew, Dennis (Laura) Coopman and his son, Alex; niece, Kathleen (Wesley) Comnick and their family, Clint (Nicole) Comnick and Lori Comnick; niece, Karen (Ben) Seppmann and their son, Paul; and many great-great nieces and nephews; godchildren, Gwen Kral, LeAnn Solie, and Donna Hayes. 

Margaret was preceded in death by her parents, husband Kenneth December 27, 2007; brother Marlin Sombke; sister-in-law Arlene Coopman and husband Arthur; niece, Lori Sombke; nephew John Sombke; great-niece, Natalie Coopman; great-nephew, Oliver Coopman.

The family would like to give a special thank you to the staff at Cottagewood Senior Living for the wonderful care they gave to Margaret for more than two years and also to Brighton Hospice.