Tracy Dawn Engle

Tracy Engle, 59 of Aledo, died Friday, September 13, 2024, at her home after a courageous battle with cancer. A celebration of Tracy’s life will be held on her birthday, September 17th at the Depot in Aledo from 3 to 7 PM. Memorials may be left to the Engle family. Speer Funeral Home, Aledo is assisting the family.

Tracy Dawn Peak was born on September 17, 1964, in Hannibal, Missouri to Robert and Margaret J. Peak. She married Jeff Engle on May 31, 1998, in a surprise ceremony at Mark Twain Lake. 

Tracy was a jack of all trades, working with livestock (especially horses), landscaping, and home health care. She enjoyed being outdoors, especially mowing the lawn. Tracy was a volunteer with Mercer County 4-H, Mercer County Ag in the Classroom and the New Windsor Drill Team. She cherished the friendships made helping others while helping others with their own health struggles.

As much as Tracy loved helping others, her main job was being a mom. You could say Tracy didn’t have a favorite child. She spent her summers playing softball with Stevie, when she was young, then onto horses. She would hook up the truck and trailer with no idea how to back it up and load the horses up to take Stevie to a local horse show on early Saturday mornings or a 4-H Club event. Once Stevie got older, it was the New Windsor Drill Team. Tracy was their favorite fan. Every Monday night you would find her with her red bandanna tied around her belt loop, hair in a clip, sunglasses on, ready to do anything for anyone on a horse or on the ground. Her kid or not, it didn’t matter.

In the fall and winter, she spent her weekends and weekdays hauling Stone and Blaine around to football, track and wrestling practice and tournaments. In the spring and summer, she spent her weekends coaching the boys in baseball. They traveled all over the US to wrestle, and she was always on the side of the mat cheering them on whether they were winning or losing. She was also the first parent to the podium with their phone or camera out to snap a picture of the boys. 

When Makayla was 18, she hunted down Tracy. She searched far and low, tracked her from every place she lived without even knowing her full name. Ironically, found her and reconnected in 2008 and they have been in communication ever since.

Tracy didn’t just love her kids, she loved everybody. She wouldn’t be able to go in the local Wal-Mart without seeing at least 3-4 people she knew and chat for 20+ minutes. She cherished her many friendships through work, family, and the community. One important friendship to mention was Joyce Kadel. Her favorite place to be and work was her farm in Buffalo Prairie. She also had many other friends who she shared many stories and memories with, whenever they crossed paths.

Those left to cherish Tracy’s memory include her children: Makayla Anderson and her son, Andrew of St. Louis; Stevie (Colin Downing) Engle of Hills, IA; Stone (Zoey Miller) Engle of Colorado Springs and Blaine Engle of Aledo; her husband, Jeff Engle; her mother by heart, Joyce Kadel; and brothers, Ronnie Wintjen and Robert Peak, Jr. She was preceded in death by her parents and a sister, Connie Measel.