Lisa was born May 8, 1965 in Akron, Ohio, the first child of Joyce (Moseley) and Marvin Katz, a schoolteacher and a journalist. She grew up in Glenshaw, PA, Worthington, OH, and Rockville, MD developing a love for the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Baltimore Orioles, Maryland crabs, and Nicobolis from Nicola’s Pizza in Rehoboth, DE along the way.
A thespian and member of the choir in high school, she returned to Ohio for college, majoring in Telecommunications and then Journalism at Kent State University.
Her career began at the Daily Press in Newport News, Virginia, where she worked as a copy editor and reporter. She switched gears and headed to Richmond, VA and served as press secretary to Governor Doug Wilder. Next she was off to Petersburg, VA, taking on the excitement of Director of University Relations publication relations for Virginia State University. Lisa was always delighted in new adventures and moved to Durham, NC to start anew at the University of North Carolina School of Public Health, Public Relations Department, later becoming the Director of News Services for the entire university.
She was a die-hard Tar Heels fan and enjoyed the company of many dear friends while she lived there. Lisa left North Carolina to take on a new challenge as a military spouse when she married Major Thomas Pagel on July 4, 2009. With her perky personality, she quickly fit right into the family support groups and scrap-bookers.
Lisa and Thomas were at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas when they discovered she had gallbladder cancer. Lisa took the news in stride and maintained her positive attitude throughout. During her cancer treatments she always made a point to learn the names and stories of the folks she met from the other patients, doctors, nurses, technicians and caregivers to the housekeepers and desk staff. Even on her roughest days Lisa would make sure to say “hello” and ask how they were doing, usually asking a question in follow-up to a previous conversation. She knew every person had a story and everyone was special and she could make them feel that way, be it with a word or that smile that could only make you smile back.
Blessed be the Memory of Lisa Katz Pagel.