1 week Ago By By Edie Schmierbach [email protected]
LE SUEUR — Jynane Staley was very recognizable to Le Sueur residents although they probably did not know her by her legal name. Most people called her “The Angel on the Corner.” Staley died Wednesday in Le Sueur.
She was 84. By Friday afternoon, local social media sites had more than 700 postings expressing remembrances of Staley, who starting in 2021 often stood on a corner dressed in white gown. She usually was carrying a sign that read “Jesus Loves You.
” “Oh how I miss her. I always watched for her. I would open my (car) window and yell back ‘God Bless You,’” Cheri Anderson-Youngren commented on Facebook.
“The world is slightly darker from losing her. She always made my day when I’d drive by and see her,” Felix Mari wrote adding to the conversation. “Now; an angel for REAL!!” was the thought contributed by Jacki Tellijohn.
“She had the halo, the wings, the whole thing,” said Lisa Malinski, one of Staley’s five children. “Gosh, everybody knew mom,” she said. Staley had a weekly routine for her ministry.
Malinski said she did not realize the effect The Angel on the Corner had on people until they came up to her and offered their stories. Staley’s fans included students from St. Anne’s.
“They would wave as their bus went by her on its way to school ...
and she would wave back.” After Staley entered hospice care this fall, the young students sent greeting cards to wish her well. Malinski said her mother was a non-denominational evangelist who had been on a mission to help people for about 40 years.
“Mom died at the Le Sueur nursing home where she worked until she was 75 years old,” said June Staley, of Lake Havasu, Arizona. Jynane had been a nursing assistant for 25 years. Her volunteer activities had included leading Bible studies for residents.
In an autobiography completed earlier this year for her grandchildren, Jynane said she just wanted to remind everyone that Jesus loves you. Her reminder helped at least one person who was suffering mental anguish. “She had many stories to share but my favorite one is a road construction worker came up to her and she told him that Jesus loves him.
He said that morning he was considering suicide, but he said a prayer to God, if you are real send an angel to speak to me today,” June said. “She was humble and she had the aura of a sweet lady. She had an incredible faith,” said June, who is credited with suggesting, several years ago, that her mother dress up and engage with her community— and with finding the angelic messenger costume.
Lake Havasu also had a friendly angel who would visit with people from a bench in one of the city’s parks, June said. At first, Jynane was hesitant to don the outfit gifted from June; but her joy of being in the spotlight apparently won over. “She loved to dance and she had such a good spirit,” Malinski said.
Her mom was in good health until near the end of October, when Jynane fell at her apartment and hit her head. Doctors who examined her found a huge aneurysm. The miracle is that because the aneurysm was found before it burst, Jynane had time to say her goodbyes.
“She got to say I love to you to her grandchildren,” June said. Memorial services for Jynane are slated in January at Woodland Hills Funeral Home in Mankato..
