Amy L (née Suek) Wivell

Amy L. Wivell (née Suek)

At the age of 35 years old, our sweet Amy passed away peacefully from her Earthly home to her Eternal home
after a valiant eight year battle with a rare ovarian cancer on the vigil of All Saint’s Day, October 31, 2023.
Beloved wife of Jon; cherished daughter of Nancy Shatek-Suek and Don Suek; precious daughter-in-law of
Brad and Cheri Wivell; adoring sister, Erin Suek and Naji Ghandour; loving sister-in-law, Kristen; treasured
granddaughter of Lavonne Shatek and her loyal dogs, Grace and Bailey. She is also survived by many loving
aunts, uncles and cousins. Preceded in death by her grandparents, Francis Shatek and Elsie and Sylvester Suek;
and aunt Mary Suek.

Amy was born on February 11, 1988 in Minneapolis, MN. She grew up primarily in St. Paul, graduating from
Highland Catholic School and Cretin-Derham Hall. She spent the first year of her undergrad studies at the
College of St. Benedict before transferring to the University of St. Thomas and graduating with a B.A. in
Psychology.

Throughout her life, Amy enjoyed a variety of sports including swimming, basketball, ultimate frisbee, soccer
and softball. She was competitive especially with expectations of herself. A couple of years ago she even ran
the 5K at HOM Teal Strides and placed second in the survivors bracket. She held many jobs over the years,
from preschool teacher, to manager of a bagel store, various roles in the mortgage industry, to her last role in
accounting at a plumbing company. She was always ready to jump in and learn a new role and do it to the best
of her ability.

Amy enjoyed gardening and watching any plant or flower grow, sitting in the sun on her deck, soft clothes,
online shopping, being warm with a heating pad, baking, organizing anything, reading about a variety of topics,
big trucks, family vacations at Clear Lake, visiting the farm and watching sports with Jon especially the Twins.
Amy was always wise beyond her years. When faced with adversity, she would acknowledge the issue and seek
out help and deal with it. Her diagnosis of ovarian cancer in 2015 changed her life the most. It’s a rare path for
a twenty-sever year old to maneuver but Amy did it with strength, determination, courage, knowledge, integrity
and grace. Even though her life dream was to get married and have children, she eventually accepted this new
reality and turned her focus to supporting various causes, including multiple dog rescue organizations.
Thankfully one of her dreams came true. On October 19, 2019, she married the love of her life, Jon. The depth
of their love was so visible in the way they looked at one another. Their wedding day was a slice of heaven here
on Earth! What love! She was in a no evidence of disease state at the time of their wedding and Amy and Jon
hoped to adopt children someday. However that hope was dashed just six weeks after their wedding day when
we learned that her cancer had returned.

From December 2019 until the time of Amy entering hospice, she explored multiple treatments to attack the
cancer, including clinical trials. She had been trying to begin a new line of treatment up until she entered
hospice. We’ve been told by her gynecological oncologist that Amy’s journey made an impact for other women
being treated for the disease. Amy sought to educate people about ovarian cancer especially in younger women.
One of Amy’s lasting legacies will be that of humility and kindness especially in the midst of suffering. She
genuinely cared about others. She touched many at various M Fairview Hospital units and clinics. She was
inspirational in her fight and acceptance of what was. She lived one day at a time and was grateful for the day.
The gift of the present is priceless! She will be forever missed!

We want to sincerely thank Dr. Colleen Rivard Hunt, her nurse, Val Crookes, the other staff at M Fairview
Burnsville Oncology-Sandy, Sam, Molly, Marty and others who genuinely cared for Amy, Jon and our family.
We also want to thank her other providers: Dr. Allyson Stevenson-King, Dr. Elizabeth Uchitelle, Dr. Cynthia
Fok and Dr. Robert Madoff and their staffs and Health Partners hospice staff. Please know that you all made a
difference in Amy’s life. Thank you!

We also want to thank everyone who has supported and prayed for us during this time. We are forever grateful.
In celebrating Amy’s life there will be a visitation 3:30-7:30 pm Friday, November 10 at O’Halloran & Murphy,
575 Snelling Ave, S., St. Paul. Mass of Christian Burial 1:00 pm Saturday, November 11 at Nativity of Our
Lord Catholic Church, 1938 Stanford Ave., St. Paul, MN. Mass will be live-streamed, https://nativitystpaul.org/
online-liturgies. Interment Resurrection Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, memorials preferred to Minnesota Ovarian Cancer Alliance (MOCA) mnovarian.org. From
the time Amy was diagnosed, MOCA supported her through education, support groups and hope of funding an
early detection test or treatment. We thank them also.

To send flowers to the family, please visit our floral store.