Robert "Bob" Nangle

ROBERT BRUCE NANGLE was born on April 6, 1939 to Robert E. and Ethel (Kalb) Nangle at St. Mary’s Hospital in Rochester, Minnesota. He was baptized at Calvary Episcopal Church located just across the street from the hospital. At the age of four, he and his family moved to Madison, South Dakota. He attended Washington Grade School and graduated from Madison Central High School in 1957. Bob then attended General Beadle State Teachers’ College in Madison, graduating in 1961. On July 16, 1960, Bob was united in marriage to Carol Thompson, at the Methodist Episcopal Church in Colman, South Dakota. The couple made their home in Howard, South Dakota for one year. They then moved to Edgerton, Minnesota, where Bob began teaching social studies and his career in coaching athletics. In 1964, the family moved to Vermillion, South Dakota, where Bob began working on his Master’s Degree. In 1965 he accepted a teaching and coaching position with Pipestone High School. Bob later finished his Master’s Degree at South Dakota State University in Brookings, South Dakota. He continued working in the Pipestone School system until his retirement in 2014. On November 9, 2016 Bob died at St. Mary’s Hospital in Rochester at the age of 77 years, seven months and three days.

Bob was a member of Peace United Methodist Church in Pipestone. Along with his coaching associations and organizations, Bob was a member of the Elks Club in Worthington, Minnesota. During his high school years, Bob earned 11 athletic letters (five in track, four in football, two in basketball). He was a member of his high school’s track relay team that held a record at Howard Wood Field for many years. He earned second team All-State Honors in football as a running back for the Bulldogs. In college Bob lettered eight times (four in football, three in track, one in baseball), plus was All-Conference in football his freshman year. Bob played for the Pipestone Indians’ baseball team and later for Winter Concrete slow-pitch softball team in Flandreau, South Dakota. During summer months, he enjoyed coaching the VFW and American Legion baseball teams. Through the years, Bob was instrumental in the development of the Paulsen Field athletic complex. Above all, Bob was proud to be a part of many student athletes’ lives, through education and athletics.

Bob is lovingly remembered by his wife of 56 years, Carol, of Pipestone; daughter, JoLynn Nangle of Pipestone; brother, Michael (Nyla) Nangle of Marshall, Minnesota; nephew, Chad (Jennifer) and their boys, and niece, Karri (Jason) Harvey and their girls; and his family of faculty and students of Pipestone Area Schools. He was preceded in death by his son, Timothy; and parents, Robert E. and Ethel.

Memorials may be directed to the Pipestone-Jasper Athletic Hall of Fame Scholarship or Mayo Clinic Department of Development.