Joyce "Ti" D. Rigo

Joyce Darlene “Ti” Rigo, 94, passed away peacefully on Sunday morning, August 31, 2025. A beloved daughter, sister, and auntie, she was born on August 4, 1931, in Stevenson Location, Minnesota.

Joyce grew up in Stevenson Location and often regaled her family with stories—of Finnish saunas, baking in the spacious kitchen of her friend’s grandmother’s boarding house, and of her neighbor who spoiled her and her sister like granddaughters. When Stevenson Location closed, she moved with her family—house and all—to Hibbing, Minnesota, which remained home for much of her life.

She left the Iron Range to attend college in Minneapolis, returning unexpectedly after the first semester on a snowy winter night, dragging her trunk home from the bus stop. From there, she enrolled at Saint Scholastica in Duluth, where she flourished—deepening her love of God and forming lifelong friendships with fellow students and the sisters. She seldom missed the annual alumni luncheon on the first day of school, where she took great joy in walking in the procession, welcoming new students to the same halls she had once cherished.

After college, Joyce taught elementary school in the St. Cloud and Minneapolis areas before returning to Hibbing to live with her mother following the unexpected death of her father. There she began her more than 30 years of teaching at Assumption Catholic School. Even after retiring, she continued coming back for story time with the second graders, her favorite grade. Her students were her pride and joy; she loved watching them grow into successful adults and couldn’t go anywhere in town without meeting a former student or parent. She especially loved it when they became parents of future students. 

Outside the classroom, Ti loved time with friends and family. She walked in all weather and spent many summers taking her nieces, nephews, and later grand-nieces and nephews across the Iron Range—picnicking at McCarthy Beach, visiting the library, picking raspberries on the train tracks, and treating them to Dairy Queen. She also enjoyed traveling the country and world, collecting shells and rocks and shopping, often with her dear friend Sue Scipioni.

In her later years, Joyce moved to Minneapolis, where she was lovingly cared for by her niece and goddaughter, Dawn, and her family. She delighted in spending time with her great-grandnieces, watching them grow and bragging about them to everyone. 

Ti will be deeply missed by her family—for her stories, her love of God and the natural world, and her independent spirit. She connected us to the family’s history with her tales of another era, and guided us toward the future through her steadfast faith and joyful embrace of what lay ahead.

Joyce is survived by six nieces and nephews—Dawn Pajunen, George (Lisa) Pajunen, Anne (Darren) Buechler, Mary (Danny) Geisenhof, Thomas (Tracy) Pajunen, and Jeanne (Billy) Swing—along with sixteen grandnieces and nephews, and two great-grandnieces. 

She was preceded in death by her parents, Bozena (Bessye) and Joseph Rigo, her sister, Gloria Pajunen; her brother-in-law, Duane Pajunen and her treasured friend, Sue Scipioni.

A Memorial Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11 a.m. on Friday, September 12, 2025, at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in Hibbing, MN. Visitation will be held one hour prior to the service, and Rev. Peter Akudugu will officiate the service. Interment will be held at the Maple Hill Cemetery in Hibbing, MN.

Arrangements are with the Dougherty Funeral Home of Hibbing, MN.