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Margaret Veronica Panchula
Born: 1/26/1939
Died: 9/4/2025
Age: 86
Community: Linden, MI
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Margaret Veronica Panchula had a heart of gold. She was a faithful Catholic, sparkling social butterfly, champion of the underdog, professional bargain hunter, menace behind the wheel, and donut connoisseur. She died on Thursday, September 4, 2025.
Margaret, the oldest of three sisters, was born Margaret Stybert in 1939, to parents Anthony and Veronica Stybert, in Flint, MI. She grew up in a modest home and attended Sacred Heart Catholic School. Growing up, she loved to visit her grandma Katerina Knapko’s farm, which taught her how to cultivate beautiful vegetables and flower gardens, a skill at which she’d excel her whole life.
Margaret was an extraordinary cook with Lebanese, Slovak, and Polish cuisine being her forte. She loved coffee, donuts, coney islands, and her husband Paul’s BBQ baby back ribs. Shopping was in her DNA, even on the Kmart layaway plan. Her Catholic faith was at the core of her life; Saints and the Blessed Mary were in her daily prayers. Work was important to her, and she enjoyed her 30-year career with General Motors.
She loved to chit-chat with strangers and made everyone she encountered feel important. She was an avid reader and loved to keep up on current events. She didn’t give two sh*ts about what anyone thought, and would make sure to tell you her opinion, which was the universal truth. Margaret was a fashionista, always ahead of the latest trends and dressing to the nines. Her beautiful brunette hair was an important part of her identity, wearing many different styles over the years including a pixie, shag, and Gibson Girl with a wiglet of cascading curls. She even wore a platinum blonde wig on occasion. She refused to go underwater (God forbid her hair get wet) and requested her family to style her silver pixie perfectly in the last days of her life.
Margaret always took care of others, making sure they took their vitamins and ate well. She loved holiday gatherings with family, especially Christmas. She was serious about her decor, personalizing and creating extravagant Christmas displays, even on the back of the toilet. Her nativity set was handmade and the most important part of her display. She was serious about her tree flocking, having Paul spray it layer by layer until it was perfect. Margaret loved camping at the Tawas State Park every summer for many years and made her family pack for it like their lives depended on it. She cooked meals there like the Coleman Camping Stove Queen.
She also enjoyed drinking grasshoppers, whipping them up in her blender and taking them to church dances when her girls were younger. She even left a little at home for the babysitter.
Margaret is survived by her beloved husband Paul. Born two days apart, Margaret met Paul in the infant ward at St. Joseph’s Hospital in 1939. They had 64 years of marriage together and raised two daughters. They created a beautiful life, and loved traveling, camping, family gatherings, golfing, playing cards, league bowling, and getting up to no good together. Margaret loved to tear up the dance floor with Paul, their specialties being the polka, jitterbug, and hustle. Paul treated her like his Queen.
Margaret is survived by her two adventurous daughters, Vanessa and husband Michael, and Melany and husband Patrick, whose lives are filled with laughter and wild spirit. Margaret’s daughters’ eyebrows had to always be shaped with her spit, and she fashioned their hair just right into little buns, complete with clip-in birds, flowers, and bows. She loved them very much. She was a warm, caring, loving, faith-filled Mama. Everything she did, she did for her family.
Margaret is survived by her five grandchildren; Alexianna and husband Aaron, Olivia, Mason, Bella, and Onna. Her grandchildren could do no wrong and each one of them was her favorite. Her grandchildren were spoiled rotten, waited on hand and foot, fed mountains of treats, and taken on shopping sprees, ice cream dates, and little adventures. To Margaret, they were perfect, and to them, she was too. Her love for them was unmatched.
Margaret is survived by her sisters, Joanne Goff and Patricia Reno, whom she cherished. Margaret is also survived by an incredible number of family, friends, neighbors, caregivers, and acquaintances. She was well-loved. Margaret peacefully passed on a serene Michigan fall evening, in her loved ones’ embrace. She will be missed dearly. We love you, Nana.
Margaret’s celebration of life and Funeral Mass will be on Saturday, October 25, 2025, at St John the Evangelist Catholic Church at 600 N Adelaide St in Fenton, MI 48430.
Visitation is at 9:30 a.m., followed by Funeral Mass at 10:30 a.m.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you treat a stranger like a friend, chit-chat in the checkout line, or do something nice for someone else unexpectedly.
“Bless us, O Lord, and these Thy gifts, which we are about to receive from Thy bounty, through Christ our Lord. Amen. And God Bless The Troops!”
Your condolences may be shared with the family at swartzfuneralhomeinc.com
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| Visitation |
| Date: |
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10/25/2025 |
| Time: |
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9:30 AM |
Visitation is at 9:30 a.m., followed by Funeral Mass at 10:30 a.m.
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| Funeral Service |
| Date: |
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10/25/2025 |
| Time: |
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10:30 AM |
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| Location: |
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St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church
600 North Adelaide St.
Fenton, MI 48430Get a Map to this location...
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