Peggianne Rael

Peggianne Rael was born March 29, 1943, and died on October 30, 2019.  Peggy is survived by her two children Michael (Hilary) Donat and Tracey (Rodney) Del Nero as well as her four grandchildren and four step children.   Peggy was preceded in death by her husband Frank Rael.  

Peggy was born in Cincinnati, Ohio but spent a majority of her early years in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and La Grange, Illinois.  She met her first husband, Thomas Donat, at Marquette University where she obtained her Bachelors of Science in Nursing. Thomas’ job took the family all over the country.  While living in Atlanta, Peggy obtained her certification as an Enterstomal Therapy nurse specializing in wound and ostomy care. Obtaining this specialty was important to Peggy as she underwent ileostomy surgery in 1978 while living in Napa, CA. During her career, she cared for thousands of patients in the hospital and at home. She taught countless nursing students at Emory University, in Georgia, and here in Sacramento. She was the Vice-President of the national WOCN, representing ET nurses across the country.

After separating from Thomas in 1980, the Peggy and the children moved back to California settling in Citrus Heights.   Peggy lived there for the next 39 years.  In 1983, Peggy met Frank Rael and an incredible relationship blossomed. They married in 1989 and were in love until Frank’s sudden passing in 2007.  Their favorite past times were playing bridge, fishing at Bridgeport and traveling. They traveled to several countries together but their favorite place was Toledo, Spain. A highlight was, in 2006, when Peggy and Frank took Michael, Tracey and their families to Europe for a cruise through the Mediterranean countries.

In 1998, Peggy purchased Professional Village Pharmacy in Sacramento with a partner. Because of her, Professional Village became the place to go for wound care or ostomy problems. To this day, people come to Professional Village to see if “Peggy the Nurse” is still around to help them. After Frank’s sudden passing, Peggy continued to work at the pharmacy until her Parkinson’s prevented her from doing so.  

Peggy’s other loves were baseball and Disney. She was always happiest at a Giants game (or any ball game for that matter) or when she was at Disneyland, Disney World or even Disney Paris. Trips to Disney were an annual event if not more frequent. Her home had several Small World mementos, her favorite ride, and her closet was full of Giants clothing items. She attended countless ball games including several playoff and World Series games. Happily, she and Michael made it to Spring training in March 2017 before Peggy’s health prevented her from traveling.

Friends and family are invited to attend services on Thursday, November 7, 2019 from 10:00AM to 11:00AM at PRICE FUNERAL CHAPEL (6335 Sunrise Blvd., Citrus Heights, CA 95610).  In lieu of flowers, Peggy’s family asks that donations be made to the National Parkinson's Foundation.

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