Gabriele "Gaby" Pihlaja, 74, of Cook, MN passed away on Saturday, January 22, 2022.

Gaby was born in Frankfurt, Germany to Karl and Elisabeth (Glück) Espenschied on June 15, 1947. She grew up, attended and graduated school in Frankfurt. Shortly after graduating, she gained employment as an apprentice with Hoyts Pharmaceutical Company. She then moved to the United States, residing in northern Minnesota. Gaby taught herself to speak and write in English, and how to drive. Gaby met and later married Dennis Pihlaja, on April 9, 1994 in St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands on the beach. They spent their years together in Angora, Minnesota. She worked as a physical therapist at Leisure Hills Nursing Home in Hibbing and at Heritage Manor in Chisholm.

Gaby enjoyed gardening in her large and beautiful flower garden. She loved the lake and spending time at the family lake home. She was an avid swimmer and would swim across the bay and back in front of her lake home. When she wasn't swimming, she was on the water bikes. She was a fantastic swimming coach and taught her great-grandson to swim and snorkel. Gaby and Dennis enjoyed many trips on the pontoon; rain or shine. She and Dennis cruised all over Lake Vermillion as a couple or with friends. She also had a passion for long distance bicycling; biking as far as 100 miles in a day. She also enjoyed a good game of pickleball. Gaby enjoyed entertaining and she would often cook homemade German meals for her guests. Gaby had a passion for traveling; she and Dennis traveled to Mexico frequently. The couple also had a home in Texas that they enjoyed spending their time at during the winter months. She enjoyed any type of Cruise, with the most recent a river cruise. Gaby visited her family in Germany every year and also attended class reunions to see old classmates from Germany. Gaby was passionate about life, loved her family, and was a very outgoing person who loved people. She will be dearly missed.

Gaby was preceded in death by her parents Karl and Elisabeth Espenschied; her niece Sylvia Earls; and her brother-in-law-Erenst Klein.

Gaby is survived by her loving husband Dennis Pihlaja; her daughter Sheilah Pajunen; her grandchildren: Anthony Jenkins and Jessica Steventon (Kirkpatrick) great-grandchildren: Rowan Kirkpatrick, Emory Steventon and Avery Steventon; Janis Jenkins; sister Annie Klein; niece Petra (Robert) Weller; and many cousins.

A Funeral Service will be held on Tuesday, February 1, 2022 at 12:00PM at Mlaker Funeral Home, Cook, MN. Visitation will be held one hour prior to the service. A luncheon will be held immediately following the service at the VFW, Cook, MN.