Nancy Nordgren, relentlessly upbeat Star Tribune copy editor, dies at 66

When breaking news sent the newsroom into a frenzy, Nancy Nordgren stayed calm and upbeat — churning through copy while checking in on colleagues, and never losing sight of the humanity of her job.

Stereotypes of a cynical journalist didn't fit Nordgren, a compassionate and highly skilled Star Tribune copy editor for 24 years before she died July 12 of ovarian cancer. She was 66.

"Whatever happened in her life, she made the best of it," said Marilyn Hoegemeyer of Omaha, a retired Star Tribune editor. "She just had that amazing joie de vivre — that sense of life being precious and you needed to use every day."

Nordgren, a longtime St. Paul resident, "had courage and persistence in her own personal life in circumstances that would really undo most ordinary people," said Sarah Williams of St. Paul, a retired Star Tribune copy desk chief. "Cancer might have killed her but it never got the best of her."

It was another upbeat journalist, the fictional Mary Richards on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," who inspired Nordgren in the 1970s, though print news was already in her blood. She was born in Olivia, Minn., and grew up in St. James, Minn., where her father, Bill Nordgren, edited the St. James Plaindealer for nearly 30 years.

Nordgren joined the staff of the student paper at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter. Following stints at the Mankato Free Press and the Everett (Wash.) Herald, she arrived in 1989 at the Star Tribune, where she worked as an assistant city editor, copy editor and layout editor.

Late-night shifts on the copy desk weren't easy, especially while raising two sons, but colleagues were impressed by her precise editing and robust command of the language. She was a "workhorse" but still made time to see how a colleague was doing, Williams said.

"She was a superior editor to be sure. But she was really a superior human being," Williams said. "Connecting with other people was [just] as important to her."

Hoegemeyer remembered the year when Nordgren and her team were consigned to the Star Tribune's windowless basement during a building remodel. Her optimism never wavered: "It was a grim time, and Nancy was one of the people who kept us going," Hoegemeyer said.

Nordgren took a buyout at the Star Tribune in 2007 but returned to work there in 2013. Three years later, she was diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer and promptly dug into treatments and fundraising for the Minnesota Ovarian Cancer Alliance.

"Her focus was not on what cancer was doing to her, but what she was doing to fight cancer," Williams said.

Wonder Woman figurines soon accumulated on her desk, next to a bowl of M&M's.

"She just kept carrying on with a smile on her face," editorial writer Jill Burcum said. "Nancy was the real Wonder Woman."

Detail-oriented and driven, Nordgren packed her schedule with concerts, a book club and researching her genealogy. She loved music, the Twins and travel, especially to the North Shore. After retiring in 2019, she stayed active in her St. Anthony Park neighborhood, took classes, trekked across seven countries and relished wine nights with friends.

"There wasn't a lot of downtime in Nancy's life," said the Rev. Jim Foti of Minneapolis, a former Star Tribune copy editor. "As far as I could tell she just added friends."

"She wanted to pack all that living in," added her sister, Peg Young of Mankato.

Nordgren's parting advice, according to her obituary: "Life is short. Take the trip. Buy the shoes. Eat the cake."

Besides Young, Nordgren is survived by her sons, Will and Ted Olsen, both of Minneapolis, and sister Kathy Christenson of St. James. Services have been held.