Obituary: Peggy Shinkel (1947-2024)
Peggy Shinkel was born "Peggy Jo Holliday" on April 1st, 1947, as the third child to her parents Elwood and Alice Holliday. She graduated in 1965 from St. John Vianney High School in Flint, and in 1969 from the University of Michigan School of Nursing, becoming the first college graduate in her family. Later she moved in 1969 to San Franscico, working there as a public health nurse in Chinatown. Then four years later, she moved to Indiana and married her husband, Bernie, on September 29th, 1973.
Peggy was a notable academic. First earning a master's degree in counseling from Purdue University in 1975, she then moved to Michigan, where she earned a second master's degree in transcultural nursing from Wayne State University. A protégé of Dr. Madeleine Leininger, Peggy became in 1975 a faculty member at Madonna University, teaching there for 18 years as an Assistant Professor of Nursing. During that time, she was also elected president of the local Kappa Iota chapter of Sigma, the International Nursing Honors Society, with its over 200 members.
Most importantly Peggy was a loving wife and mother. In the early 1990s, she retired from teaching when she and Bernie welcomed their two children, Kaitlyn and Ryan. While raising her kids, Peggy still remained an active member of the Transcultural Nursing Society, as well as a frequent volunteer in parish nursing at Holy Family Church in Novi.
Peggy leaves behind Bernard, her husband of over 50 years, alongside her two siblings, Tom and Sharon Holliday, her two children, Kaitlyn Mucha and Ryan Shinkel, her five grandchildren, Dakota, Austin, Leira, Jamie, and Tommy, not to mention her numerous cousins, dozens of nieces and nephews, and countless friends.
Besides being a magnificent wife and mother as well as gifted nurse and teacher, Peggy was a vigorous athlete. She hiked and backpacked several mountains, rode her horse, Venus, for many years, and was a skier, boater, golfer and dancer until the very end. The physical energy she put into sports was only outweighed by the deep love she gave to God and her family, not to mention all neighbors and strangers alike. A caregiver for decades to her late brother, Timothy Holliday, and for seven years to a close family friend, Margie Beck, Peggy was loved by all she met.
May her memory bless the living and may her soul rest in Christ's peace.
Visitation will be held at the O'Brien/Sullivan Funeral Home, 41555 Grand River Avenue, Novi, 248-348-1800 on Tuesday, August 13, 2024, from 3:00 PM - 8:00 PM with a Rosary at 7:00 PM. Instate on Wednesday, August 14, 2024, at Our Lady of Victory Catholic Church, 133 Orchard Drive, Northville from 10:30 AM until time of funeral liturgy 11:00 AM. Interment will take place at Glen Eden Cemetery, Livonia, after the luncheon. Live streaming will be available on Our Lady of Victory webpage. Memorial donations may be made to the Capuchin .