Cathy Joy Schlager

Cathy Joy Schlager, 65, of Jackson, Minnesota entered into rest on Tuesday, December 23, 2020, at Ava’s Hospice House in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. A visitation will be held on Monday, December 28, 2020 from 5-7 p.m. at the Osterberg Funeral Home in Jackson. Masks will be required inside the building.

A private family funeral service will take place at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, December 29, 2020 at the First Presbyterian Church in Jackson, with Pastor Eunice Woodberry and Reverend Martin Lucin officiating. The funeral service will be live streamed on the Osterberg Funeral Home Facebook page. Masks are required to be worn inside the church.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials to Ava's Hospice House in Sioux Falls, Jackson County Relay for Life, or to an organization of your choice in honor of Cathy.

Cathy Joy Schlager, daughter of Roy and Joyce (Sirovy) Schlager, was born on January 23rd, 1955 in Jackson, Minnesota.  She attended Jackson Public Schools and proudly graduated in 1976.  After graduation, she began working at the Jackson County DAC and continued her employment there until December of 2020.  She was baptized and confirmed at the First Presbyterian Church in Jackson, Minnesota, where she was an active lifetime member surrounded by a beautiful church family.  She served as a church deacon, assisted with Sunday school and bible school, and was a member of the First Presbyterian clown troupe where she could share the stories and love of God through the skits that they performed.

Cathy was a social butterfly and had a sincere love for volunteering.  She shared her time, talents, and love with so many residents at the Good Samaritan Society in Jackson and always looked forward to helping with BINGO.  She enjoyed being on the go and always seemed to have a busy calendar.  She participated in softball during the summer and bowling league during the winter.  People’s First was a local group that she was a part of and looked forward to as well.  In her younger years, she participated in Special Olympics, where she earned many gold and silver medals.  Another thing that she enjoyed being a part of in her younger years was the 4-H Club.  Regardless of how busy she was, she always found the time for fundraising for the ARC and the Jackson County Relay for Life.  People were always reminded by her that she wanted to be a part of finding a cure for cancer.

She enjoyed latch hooking and completed many beautiful rugs, pillows, wall hangings, and tree skirts that she shared with her family and friends.  You could always find her working on some type of crafting.  Shopping was something that she was an expert at and you could always be guaranteed to find her in the “As Seen on TV” aisle.  She had a love for collecting sun catchers, as well as Elvis Presley and Wizard of Oz memorabilia.  She was always up for a day of fishing, a drive-in movie, a weekend of camping, staying up late, going out to eat, sauerkraut and dumplings, sitting around a bonfire, traveling, and our yearly vacation up North each year.  She never got tired of sharing the story of how she got to meet Waylon Jennings and sat on stage for one of his concerts that she was personally invited to by Waylon himself.  It was a dream come true!  Her family was her everything and she made it known.  Her dog Papi was the center of her world and brightened her days by shadowing her every move.

She will be dearly missed, but we can’t help but imagine the pure happiness that she must be experiencing in her new and forever home.  We believe that the love she shared with us was the closest thing to God’s love that anyone could experience on earth.  We were blessed to have her in our lives and will miss her contagious smile and giving heart. 

Cathy is survived by her siblings Rick (Brenda) Schlager of Jackson, MN; Joni (Doug) Hanson of Lakefield, MN; Jerry (Amy) Schlager of Jackson, MN; Heidi (David) Arndt of Jackson, MN.  Also surviving are many nieces, nephews, great-nieces, and great-nephews who she loved so very much; Jesse Schlager, Drayton Klassen, Julian Schlager, Derek Schlager, Dylan Hanson, Hunter Hanson, Arianna Hanson, Avery Hanson, Meagan Schley, Kolt Schley, Walker Schley, Alyssa Burmeister, Finley Burmeister, Laurel Burmeister, Johanna Burmeister, Muriel Burmeister, Angela Naumann, Lucy Naumann, Sullivan Naumann, Natalie Schlager, Grant Schlager, Nathan Schlager, Emily Arndt, Brooke Arndt, Faith Arndt.  She is also survived by Via Orwig who already considered her as her Aunt Cathy.  She left behind her faithful friend Papi, who remained by her side until it was time for her to leave this world. 

Those that passed before her were her parents, an infant sister, her grandparents, and many aunts, uncles, cousins, and other family members and friends.

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