Here's the news report.
Two Harbors veterinarian and author dies
Patrick Garmoe
Duluth News Tribune Published Monday, August 13, 2007
A Two Harbors author, artist and small-animal veterinarian died in a Pine County car crash Friday night. Her husband, the town’s fire chief, was seriously injured.
Mary K. Schlangen, 35, of Two Harbors, who worked at Grand Avenue Veterinary Clinic in West Duluth, died in the accident. Her husband, Mark P. Schlangen, 35, a science teacher at Two Harbors High School, was seriously injured. Their two children, Kaija M. Schlangen, 7, and Eli J. Schlangen, 4, were taken to Kanabec Hospital in Mora with minor injuries.
The family moved to Two Harbors five years ago from Alexandria, Minn.
“To me, it was amazing how a young couple could become so immersed in a community in five years,” Two Harbors High School Principal Robert Nyberg said.
Mark Schlangen teaches ninth-grade physical science and human and animals systems.
Mary Schlangen was a writer and artist who, in 2005, won a Northeastern Minnesota Book award for writing and illustrating “Zoe’s Good-bye,” a book to help children cope with the loss of a pet.
She told the Duluth News Tribune in 2005 that she wrote the book in hopes of helping people cope with the loss of a pet that needs to be euthanized because she saw it so often as a veterinarian.
“It’s one of those things, you think you’d get used to, but you don’t,” she said at the time. “Sometimes I cry with the owners.”
In addition to writing the story, she also painted the book’s 32 illustrations. The book’s Northland setting came from Schlangen’s love of the region and what she saw while volunteering as veterinarian at the John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon.
At school, her husband Mark knew how to keep his class entertained while learning.
“Mark has just done an outstanding job in the classroom with his science classes,” Nyberg said.
A brief look at his Web site shows a schedule packed with all sorts of projects, from building rockets to explaining how light is refracted.
On his own time, he would take some of his students on outdoor adventures, like climbing frozen waterfalls at Gooseberry Falls State Park.
He was never one to brag, Nyberg said.
“He just has that connection with kids,” Nyberg said.
The accident occurred at 9:30 p.m. Friday, according to a Minnesota State Patrol accident report.
Mary Schlangen was riding west on Minnesota Highway 23 with her family in a 1997 Saturn station wagon when it collided with a 2002 Dodge Durango driven by Ann M. Brodman, 53, of Cambridge, Minn.
At this point officials aren’t clear which vehicle caused the wreck, but continue to investigate the accident.
Brodman was driving south on Pine County Road 13 when the cars collided at the intersection with Highway 23.
Though Brodman received no injuries, Mary Schlangen died at the scene despite wearing a seat belt at the time.
Her husband, Mark, who was driving the Saturn at the time of the accident and was wearing a seat belt, remained in serious condition Sunday at North Memorial Medical Center in suburban Robbinsdale.
Both cars were totaled in the accident.
2 comments:
That's so very sad. I'm sorry for your loss.
Mary was my cousin. I never met her husband, but Mark must be amazing, just because of who Mare was and what she stood for. Mary's mom has told us that she was killed by a drunk driver. Why are none of the newspaper articles pointing this out?
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