Jill (Hagan) Landwehr

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Biography

Jill was born in 1944. ^[1]

Death and Obituary

OBITUARY ~ Jill Hagan Landwehr

Jill Hagan Landwehr, age 78, of Hancock, Minnesota, passed away on January 28, 2023. Visitation and celebration of life for Jill Landwehr will be held Saturday, February 11, 2023, from 9:30 a.m. until 11:00 a.m. at the Assumption Catholic Church in Morris, Minnesota. Memorial Mass for Jill Hagan Landwehr will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, February 11, 2023, at the Assumption Catholic Church in Morris, MN, with Father Todd Scheidner officiating. Luncheon will be served in the church basement following the Mass.

"Jill Hagan Landwehr gently took the hand of Jesus on Saturday, January 28, 2023. Jill was born on April 11, 1944, to wonderful parents, Dr. and Mrs. E.M. Hagan. She grew up in the beautiful town of Oakmont, Pennsylvania, with her older brother Jim, whom she always greatly admired, and her younger brother Eddie, her constant companion in all of her childhood adventures. Her beloved springer spaniel was always at her side. It was the perfect life, except that she did not have a horse. In the summer of 1965, she got a job waitressing at a dude ranch in Wisconsin, just to be near horses. That is where she met Jerry. They married on June 17, 1967, after she graduated from Penn State University. They moved to Minnesota to begin their life together. A few years later, Jerry surprised Jill with a horse of her own for Christmas; Mindy turned out to be her horse of a lifetime! While Jerry taught Spanish, Jill stayed home to raise her three children, Jodie, Lisa, and Michael. When Michael started kindergarten, Jill completed her degree in elementary education at the University of Minnesota, Morris, and began her 19-year teaching career in the 5th grade classroom of St. Mary’s School. She retired when her first grandchild was born. Jill remained extremely energetic and active after retirement.

"She loved the outdoor life and spent her days riding horses, biking, swimming, canoeing, kayaking, and taking her dog for walks. Even the bleak, cold Minnesota winters did not deter Jill. She loved to
cross-country ski, but if the snow was too deep for that, she strapped on her snow shoes. Even in her seventies, she racked up the miles in her running shoes, training for marathon relays and local 5K’s.

"Jill always put others before herself and showed an intense interest in all of their activities. She had a special gift for making everyone else feel special by the way she treated
them. Instead of a glass half-full, her glass was always overflowing, and she was sharing it with others.

"Her children will always remember her as the best mom ever. Jodie and Lisa inherited her passion for horses. Their favorite memories were of September Saturdays spent galloping through the harvested fields, then coming home to pick apples and make a pie together. Michael’s favorite memories were of getting off the bus after morning kindergarten to spend a wonderful afternoon just with Mom. They would hike in the cow pasture to have a picnic lunch by the old cottonwood tree by the lake, curl up in the chair to read amazing books, and even play catch with the football.

"Jill never lost her child-like sense of wonder, which made her an amazing Grandma. Her first grandchild, Julie, said it best in this letter she wrote to Gram. “You always told me you loved me, but that wasn’t how I knew. It was the way that you spent weeks preparing for our visits. It was how you read me Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer every Christmas Eve. It was the sweet rolls, Christmas cookies, and ham. It was campouts in the living room and sneaking into the kitchen for midnight snacks. It was teddy bear picnics. It was those little notes you wrote in every single book you ever gave me. It was always taking the smallest piece of cake, or the burnt toast, or even going without entirely, so that someone else could have the best.

"Gram, you are the reason I know how to spot Orion and the Big Dipper. You are the reason I know how to swim. You are the reason I can teach grammar to my fifth graders. You are the reason I will plant daisies and marigolds in my yard someday. You are the reason I cherish my family. You are the reason I know that it is important to be kind, to be strong, to be a lady. You are the reason I know that the easy route is not an option. You are the reason I know that without God’s grace, we are nothing. And Gram, you are the reason I know what it’s like to care about someone with Alzheimer’s.”

Sources

1. ↑ Unsourced family tree handed down to Lynnette (Blevins) Hettrick.