Diana Goebel, 74, of Jordan, passed away peacefully at her home on Oct 30, 2023 after a heroic two-year battle with ovarian cancer.
A visitation will take place on Thursday, Nov 9, 2023 from 4-7 at Ballard Sunder Funeral Home in Shakopee (833 Marschall Rd.) with a Prayer Service at 6:30pm. Please join us for Diana’s Mass of Christian Burial on Friday, Nov 10, 2023 at St. Mark’s Catholic Church in Shakopee at 11:30am with a visitation prior from 10-11:30am.
She will be laid to rest in St. Martin Catholic Cemetery on Saturday, November 11, 2023 at 1pm.
Diana was born on April 4, 1949, and grew up on her family farm in St. Martin, MN. She graduated from Paynesville High School in 1967, and shortly after met her future husband, Tom, at a dance at the New Munich Ballroom. Three years later, the two were married at the St. Martin Catholic Church on September 12, 1970. It was the first wedding held in the new Church. The newlyweds moved to Minneapolis, where Diana began work as an X-Ray Technician at Mount Sinai Hospital. The couple later found their permanent home in Jordan, where they remained for the better part of 50 years, raising their four children, and later welcoming nine grandchildren.
The simplest pleasures in life brought great joy to Diana. She loved her flower garden, family card games, tea parties with her grandchildren, and exploring local thrift shops for treasures. She loved her family deeply, lived out her faith devoutly, and approached others in need with a giving spirit.
Throughout her life, Diana was active in her church and a strong supporter of Catholic education. Diana volunteered much of her time teaching Confraternity of Christian Doctrine (CCD) and Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA), hosting religious study groups in her home and was the deanery lead for the Archbishop’s Annual Catholic Appeal for 15 years. She served as Development Director for Holy Trinity Catholic Schools in Winsted, was a member of the first Board of Directors responsible for the construction of a new Catholic high school in Victoria, and played an instrumental role in the expansion of the Catholic school in Jordan. The level of Diana’s dedication to Catholic education was exemplified in 1990, when she successfully collected 975,000 Campbell’s Soup labels so that a small Catholic school could get a new bus through the Soup Labels for Education program. The story received national news attention.
A determined, faith-filled, loving, and generous person, Diana will be greatly missed by her husband, Tom Goebel; Children, Paul (Audra) Goebel, Amy (Brian) Gravely, Jessica (Mark) Balzarini, Jonathan (JoAnna) Goebel; grandchildren, (Amy and Brian) Luke and Sophie Gravely, (Paul and Audra) Adalynn Johnson, Broderick and Gabriella Goebel, (Jonathan and JoAnna) Isabella, Aubrey, Elizabeth and Jacob Goebel. Diana is preceded in death by her parents Rogaria and Robert Mehr; and siblings Rodney and Rosemary Mehr.
