Kathleen "Kathy" Jaeger

Kathleen (Kathy) Jaeger, 67, Bismarck, died November 24, 2016, at Sanford Health, Bismarck. A memorial service will be held at 10:30 am on Friday, December 2, at McCabe United Methodist Church, 1030 N 6th Street, Bismarck, with Pastor Scott Bauman from Charity Lutheran Church officiating where Kathy and her husband are members. A private family burial service will be held in Fargo on Saturday. The family will be greeting visitors from 4:00 pm to 9:00 pm, Thursday, December 1, at Parkway Funeral Service, 2330 Tyler Parkway, Bismarck, with a prayer service at 7:00 pm. Kathy was born in Fargo, ND, to Robert and Inez (Smeby) Grangaard on July 28, 1949. She lived the first five years of her life in Fargo. The family moved to Oakes ND in 1954 where Kathy attended elementary school. In 1963, the family returned to Fargo. She attended Ben Franklin Middle School and graduated from Fargo North High School in 1967, which had split days with Fargo South because of the fire that had destroyed Central High. She graduated from Moorhead State College with honors. For many summers during her growing up years, the family went camping almost every weekend. Kathy often shared her experiences of camping, the types of campers the family owned, and the campgrounds they visited. One of her activities on those trips was reading, which was an avid pastime she continued throughout her life. After college, Kathy was a teacher for one year in Kalstad, MN. She then worked for several years for Straus Clothing in Fargo and for several years at the University of North Dakota Medical School Library located at the VA Medical Center, Fargo. Kathy married Thomas P Anderson in 1975. They had one son, Todd. She married Alvin (Al) Jaeger on June 7, 1986. Their first daughter, Stacy, was born on the same day as their first anniversary. Their other daughter, Heidi, was born four years later in 1991. In 1993, the family moved to Bismarck after her husband was elected the Secretary of State for North Dakota. There, a friend introduced her to the world of quilting, which soon became a passion for Kathy. It resulted in her attending many quilting retreats in Medora and at the Camp of the Cross near Garrison, among others. She accumulated a “stash” of fabric, as does every obsessed quilter. Kathy used it to create many sizes of lovely quilts for family and friends. Kathy is survived by her 97 year old mother, Inez Grangaard, Fargo ND; her husband of 30 years, Al Jaeger; her son, Todd Anderson, Kodiak, Alaska; daughters, Stacy (Brian) Walz and grandson Micah, Minot ND, and Heidi Jaeger, Brian Head, Utah; her brother, Wayne Grangaard, Fargo ND; special cousin, Mary Nerby, Riverdale ND; her sister-in-law, Leah Jaeger, Murfreesboro TN; several nieces and nephews, along with their families; close friend Cindy Sorenson, Bismarck ND; her many quilting cohorts; and since their days at Moorhead State, her five college friends, who along with Kathy, collectively called themselves the purple passion ladies and met every spring for over thirty years. She was preceded in death by her father, and her brother-in-law, Clarence Jaeger. Memorials may be made to their special charity, Wellspring for the World, PO Box 7066, Bismarck ND 58507, which is providing clean water in Africa to 300 adults and children with each well that is drilled.