Marilee Jane Bodie, 74, of Duluth, Minnesota, passed away peacefully on September 10, 2026, at Solvay Hospice House in Duluth, surrounded by her family and her beloved dog, Hope.

Marilee was born Marilee Jane Vogel on April 19, 1952, in Fairmont, Minnesota, to Mary and Henry Vogel. She grew up in Fairmont alongside her siblings, Larry, Sue, and Alan, and graduated from Fairmont High School in 1971.

She attended Augsburg College in Minneapolis, where her love of music continued. A talented pianist, Marilee played throughout her younger years and into college. She later discovered another calling: caring for others.

In 1984, Marilee graduated from Hibbing Community College as a registered nurse, alongside her dear friend Darryl, and began a career devoted largely to psychiatric and mental health nursing. She worked for many years as a registered nurse at Moose Lake Regional Treatment Center, where she formed friendships that would last a lifetime, including with Jodie and Daryl. She later continued her career at Miller-Dwan Medical Center in Duluth, where she served as a charge nurse on the mental health units.

Nursing was never simply a job to Marilee. She cared deeply for her patients, her coworkers, and the people around her. The friendships she forged during those years extended far beyond the end of a shift. Home videos filled with parties and celebrations with coworkers, along with the stories still being shared by those who worked beside her, are reminders of just how deeply those relationships mattered to her.

Marilee was the proud mother of two daughters, Nicole and Dana. On September 19, 1998, she married Gregory Bodie in St. Paul, Minnesota. Greg was her husband, her partner, and the love of her life, with whom she shared nearly 28 years of marriage, family, travel, celebrations, laughter, and a tremendous life together.

And Marilee loved life.

She and Greg loved to travel, whether their destination was far away or just up the road. Their adventures took them to Mexico, Florida, New Orleans, California, Arizona, Las Vegas, the Black Hills, Michigan—including Mackinac Island and the Upper Peninsula—and many places in between.

Then there were what her family can only describe as trillions of trips to McGregor and Lake Mille Lacs: first to Greg’s wooded cabin, then to Jodi’s lake property, and later to the lake home of Greg’s brother, Terry. Every year around their September 19 anniversary, Marilee and Greg also made their way up the North Shore of Lake Superior to take in the fall colors.

Some of Marilee’s favorite adventures involved finding other people’s old stuff. She loved antiquing, thrifting, dolls, dollhouses, miniatures, and treasures of all kinds. Marilee, Jodi, and Jodi’s daughter, Lacey, became the Junktique Chicks, with a booth at Joe Jitters Coffee Shop in Moose Lake and, for many years, at the Junk Hunt. Eventually, Marilee and Greg continued the booth themselves.

And, of course, there was always the casino.

For all the places she traveled, though, Marilee was happiest at home, surrounded by family and friends.

Her gardens at her Duluth home became something extraordinary. Marilee created beautiful memorial gardens honoring her mother and mother-in-law, Edith Bodie, filled with flowers and spectacular hydrangeas that grew more than seven feet tall. Her gardens became so beautiful that people passing by would stop and ask if they could see them.

Marilee was raised in a Methodist household. Although she rarely attended church in her adult years, largely because of her nursing schedule, her faith in the Lord Jesus remained strong and deeply personal. When her gardens were blooming, she prayed there every day. Her gardens became her sanctuary—a place where faith, remembrance, beauty, and love all grew together.

And if you came to Marilee’s house, you were going to be fed.

She cooked for an army, whether an army was expected or not. There was tater tot hotdish, casseroles, taco salad, fresh fruit and salads, desserts, and enormous breakfasts her family still describes as being “to die for.”

Food was one of the countless ways Marilee loved people, and the traditions she created around her table will continue for generations.

Christmas was Christmas because of Marilee. Birthdays mattered because of Marilee. She remembered everyone. She bought the presents. She cooked the food. She made sure everybody was cared for, and that nobody was forgotten or left out.

Marilee showed up.

She showed up for her daughters. She showed up for her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She showed up for birthdays, holidays, celebrations, milestones, friends, coworkers, and family.

Her grandchildren knew her simply as Mimi, and being Mimi was one of the greatest joys of her life.

In November 2013, Marilee was diagnosed with Stage IV esophageal cancer. She endured seven weeks of aggressive chemotherapy and radiation and, in 2014, received the remarkable news that her cancer was in remission.

And then Marilee got busy living.

She traveled. She gardened. She cooked. She celebrated. She watched her family grow and became a great-grandmother. She loved Greg, her daughters, her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, her friends, and Hope.

She remained feisty, funny, stubborn, and wonderfully herself, with a dry sense of humor and an increasingly unapologetic approach to life.

Cancer changed Marilee’s life, but it never got to define it.

The day before Marilee died, her family did what she had taught them to do all their lives:

They gathered.

Nicole and Hope walked through the forest on their way to Solvay Hospice House that day, gathering wildflowers along the way. Along with the hydrangeas, flowers, and plants brought from Marilee’s own beloved gardens, she was surrounded by pieces of the places she loved most.

They made her a flower headband, placed it gently on her, and she looked beautiful.

By then, Marilee was no longer awake to join in. But the family had the party anyway.

With rosé wine, flowers, family, and friends coming to visit throughout the day, they held one final garden-inspired “Fuck Cancer” party beside her. They told stories, laughed through tears, raised their glasses, and celebrated the woman lying peacefully among the flowers she had spent so many years growing.

Because Marilee loved a party.

And after nearly thirteen years of showing everyone just how much living could fit into the years after a Stage IV cancer diagnosis, perhaps Marilee herself would have had the most fitting response:

“Ha ha.”

Marilee is survived by her loving husband, Gregory Bodie; daughters, Nicole and Dana; grandchildren, Nicholas “Nick,” Brianna, Kayla, Ian, Jacob “Jake,” Joshua “Josh,” and Alexis “Lexi”; great-grandchildren, Aurora “Rory,” Delilah, and Emilio “Leo”; siblings, Larry Vogel and Sue Wilken; her beloved dog, Hope; and an extraordinary circle of extended family, dear friends, and former coworkers whose lives she touched.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Mary and Henry Vogel; her younger brother, Alan Vogel; her mother-in-law, Edith Bodie; her great-grandson, Joseph “Joey.”; and her sister-in-law, Judy Bodie.

Mimi loved babies, just as her own mother had before her. When Joey was born prematurely and his brief life came to an end, Mimi was there at the hospital to hold him. She held him up toward God and toward his parents in heaven before saying goodbye.

Her family finds comfort now in imagining that, after all these years, Great-Grandma Mimi is holding baby Joey once again.

Marilee leaves behind beautiful gardens that are still blooming, family recipes that will continue to be made, holidays and traditions that will continue because she created them, countless stories that will continue to be told, a nursing career spent caring for others, and generations of a family who know exactly what it feels like to be loved completely.

She taught them how to love by doing it every day.

And whenever one of them told her, “I love you,” Marilee always knew how to win:

“I love you more.”

Marilee will be cremated. Family and friends are invited to celebrate her life on Thursday, September 17, 2026. Visitation will begin at 10:00 a.m. at Sunrise Funeral Home, with the service beginning at 11:00 a.m. A reception will immediately follow.

In these days of gathering and remembrance, Marilee’s family welcomes the people who loved her to visit, share stories, and spend time together. And while her remarkable gardens are still in bloom, they especially invite those who knew her to come and experience a place that meant so much to her.

Come remember Marilee the way she lived: with family, food, stories, laughter through tears, and a whole lot of love.

Damn, she really lived.