Grave side committal services for Michael Allen Pagel  will be 10:00 AM, Monday, September 16, 2024 at the Pleasant Hill Cemetery in Aurelia, Iowa, with Pastor Bruce Rapp officiating.  Following the committal service there will be a time of Fellowship at the Aurelia Community Center in Aurelia, Iowa.  The Redig Funeral Home of Aurelia is in charge of arrangements.

Michael Allen Pagel was born July 21, 1957, and was a courageous soul who had faced down several medical conditions. While out enjoying the green grass of his backyard, he succumbed to a massive heart attack. Mike was the third child born to Russel Walter Pagel and Joan (Thompson) Pagel, who were dairy farmers outside of Sumner, IA. Mike graduated from Sumner High School in 1975, going on to earn a business administration degree from UNI in 1980, and became a Microsoft Certified System engineer in 2000.  He worked with Koch Brothers for twenty-two years in its offices in Des Moines and Cedar Rapids, IA.  In 1988 he brought Jody Engdahl into his life; they got married on September 29, 1990 in Des Moines, IA. Born with spina bifida, Mike suffered kidney failure and entered dialysis in 2004.  He received his first kidney transplant May 5, 2007, at the Rochester Mayo Clinic and his second kidney at the University Iowa Hospitals on October 14, 2021. Concurrently to his dialysis, Mike dealt with hereditary heart disease and underwent quadruple bypass surgery. Being an organ recipient, he was dedicated to the Iowa Organ Donor Network and wished his body to be used by the network. Mike elected to retire in 2010.  During his retirement, he enjoyed playing with all things electronic and feline friends.

Mike died on Monday, May 6, 2024 at St. Lukes Hospital in Cedar Rapids, IA.

He was preceded in death by his father, Russel; his mother, Joan; and his sister, Teresa. His father and mother-in-law: Albert and Leona Engdahl.

Surviving Mike is his spouse, Jody; by his step-mother, Linda; by his brother, Greg and his spouse, Peggy; his brother, Jeff and his spouse, Mary Ann; his brother, Joel and his wife, Amy; his sister, Debbie and her spouse, Dave; his sister, Natalie and her spouse, Dave. Sister-in-Law: Joy and her husband Haridas Shah and many nieces and nephews.

Donations may be made to the Spina Bifida Association.

A celebration of life will be held at the Sumner United Methodist Church, Sumner, Iowa, at 10:30 AM visitation with a Remembrance Service at 11:00 with lunch to follow, Monday, May 13, 2024 . His ashes will be interred in Pleasant Hill Cemetery in Aurelia, IA, at a later date. The Redig Funeral Home of Aurelia is in charge of arrangements.

Posted in Obituaries