About Macey
Macey Kay Hoaglund Obituary
April 23, 1989- August 8, 2024
Macey Kay Hoaglund passed away August 8, 2024, at the age of 35 in Bloomington, MN from complications of ALS she had battled for over six years.
Her parents welcomed Macey in Rochester, MN that April day. When they entered the hospital, the lawns and plants were still brown. For her trip home a few days later, everything was green and beautiful as if she arranged it that way. Throughout her life she had that knack for arranging things to be just the way she wanted them.
She grew up in Dodge Center, MN and attended Triton High School. She played the flute in the band, occupying the second chair position, but decided that wouldn’t do, so she arranged a blind audition for the coveted first chair position which, of course, she earned and held until graduation in 2007. She held fond memories of getting up early on Memorial Day to play in the band at Riverside Cemetery in Dodge Center.
She then announced to her family she was going to enroll in college at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. Her parents asked her to consider an in-state choice or something a bit closer or maybe a little more affordable. That wouldn’t do, so she arranged for financing and a spot in the dorms–everything against the advice of her parents and asked, “hey can I get ride out to my new school?” She graduated with a Bachelor’s in hospitality and used it at several of the five-diamond resorts in Las Vegas, including Bellagio and MGM. She started at the front desk and would call and excitedly say “I got a sandwich today!” Her parents were surprised to learn that she wasn’t talking about lunch, but it was a term for when a high- roller checks in and hands her a credit card, ID, and a one-hundred-dollar bill in between. She called her grandmother one night excitedly reporting she had checked in Alex Trebec. Grandma Pete repeated that story to her friends hundreds of times. Eventually, she moved into a department where only celebrities checked in. She greeted their limos and escorted them to their private suites. She would often call and mention which celebrities she chatted with that day and what kind of crazy requests they came in with.
She loved attending live concerts and had a particular passion for Motion City Soundtrack. She told her entire family how much she loved this band and planned to play the triangle on stage with them some day. Of course, she successfully manifested this as well and was invited to play with them; and after she scoffed at the suggestion for a rehearsal, she nailed it.
To her family’s delight, she moved back closer to home and showed her resume to a couple local resorts and Mystic Lake hired her immediately. Her first day at her new job included work mates whispering amongst themselves “she worked at five-diamond hotels.”
Back in Minnesota, she took up running and trained for marathons with her dad. Her final marathon was the 2017 Twin Cities Marathon. The training for this one was hampered by her left foot acting strangely–she could not lift her toes as if her calf muscle was way too tight. She carried on even though she had to jog slowly to avoid tripping. Of course, she finished the race! She was absolutely last, but the officials held the finish line open for her and she got her medal.
The foot issue turned into a diagnosis for ALS which was absolutely devastating and came with a statistical life span of two to five years. One week after her initial diagnosis, she went on a vacation to Las Vegas. On the flight out, mom suggested they do something out of the box and decided on skydiving. When the plane landed in Las Vegas, Macey called her dad to share the plans. He said wait 24 hours. Dad flew into town the next day and despite his hesitation with heights, all three took the big jump (some more successfully than others).
Macey knew her diagnosis would be a major physical and mental battle, so she decided to go back to school and get her Master’s in psychology, which she completed in 2023. Even with a terminal diagnosis, her goal was to help others. That was Macey.
She fought hard through every step of progression as she slowly lost all motor function over her six-year battle. When she started to require full-time care, she again somehow manifested the greatest full-time care provider a person could have imagined in Charlie Paulzine who lovingly cared for her for her last two years. During their two years together, Charlie helped her go to many concerts and trips to Madison, Boston, Colonial Williamsburg, Hawaii, and a great weeklong trip to Costa Rica in January of 2024 where she zip lined, hiked, played in the ocean. She enjoyed it so much she said she forgot she had a disease for that week.
Ultimately, the ALS relentlessly progressed, and she was unable to breathe on her own and chose not to live on a ventilator. She passed away on her own terms having enjoyed a concert at Target Center just the night before she passed with Charlie and her family members.
Macey was preceded in death by her grandparents on her mom’s side, George and Lorraine Peterson of Rochester, and is survived by grandparents Lyle and Theresa Hoaglund of Mantorville, mother Joleen Peterson of Red Wing, father Keith Hoaglund of Pine Island, brother Tucker Hoaglund of Pine Island, sister Melanie Hoaglund of Fort Myers, FL, and a number of aunts, uncles, and a host of cousins.
Macey’s final wishes included having her ashes contained in a functional disco ball so she can shine light on all.
A celebration-style memorial event will be held on Saturday, September 7th at the B Side Lounge in the Broken Clock Brewing Cooperative in Minneapolis, (1712 Marshall St NE STE #100, Minneapolis, MN) from noon until people leave. This will be an informal gathering to celebrate Macey’s life and share memories. Macey loves flowers!