Carol Carlson

Carol Hansen Carlson, 93, of Rochester, MN passed away peacefully, February 28, 2023, at Pine Haven Care Center, Pine Island, MN. Carol was born on December 31st, 1929, in Chicago. She was the daughter of Herbert and Henrietta Hansen. In high school Carol won an Elks Scholarship along with other awards and was voted "most likely to succeed" by her senior class. Carol graduated college in Wooster, Ohio where she was made a member of Phi Beta Kappa honor society and graduated first in her class. Carol married John Carlson in September 1951, soon after they moved to Pasadena California where Carol was a student teacher at USC while her husband attended graduate school at Caltech. After Pasadena they moved to Park Ridge IL for several years before moving to Rochester MN in 1963 with their four sons so her husband could work for IBM. In Rochester Carol spent time and homemaker until their youngest son (Clifford) was in 5th grade upon which time, she became a substitute teacher for the Rochester public school system. Every son was afforded the opportunity to have her as their substitute teacher. They all were fine with this except Jeffrey who wanted her to use a different name when she was his teacher. Carol's interest was many, enjoyed being involved in church (First Presbyterian), golf, tennis, bowling, gardening, and bridge. She was Den mother for all for all the boys through Cub Scouts. She is preceded in death by her parents, husband, sister Barbara Roeming, and son Jeffery. She is survived by three sons John (Ting), Joel (Teresa), Clifford (Suzanne), daughter in law Jeffrey (Tara) and brother-in-law Fred Roeming. She has nine grandchildren, Megan, Erik, Nicole, Lindsey, Bryan, Steven, Christopher, Alex, and Paul. Erin and Brett are step grandchildren along with many great grandchildren. A Memorial service will be held Saturday May 6th at Rochester Covenant Church. A Visitation will be held at 10am, Memorial Service 11am with a lunch to follow in the Fellowship Hall at noon. Ranfranz and Vine Funeral Home is honored to be serving the Carlson family. To share a special memory or condolence, please visit www.ranfranzandvinefh.com.