Carol Mae Ohde

Carol Mae Ohde, age 95, passed away on Saturday, November 30 at Ascension All Saints Hospital. She was born in Racine, on December 2, 1928. She was the daughter of Fred and Irene (nee: Kellbach) Krause.

Carol graduated from William Horlick High School “Class of 1947”. On October 10, 1947, she was united in marriage to William (“Bill”) Martin Ohde, Jr. and they had 2 children. Bill preceded her in death on December 2, 1999.

Carol was currently a member of Trinity Lutheran Church. For many years, Carol was the church secretary at Emmanual Lutheran Church. She always took great pride in her work and took meticulous care of every detail with all things she did. Carol had an impeccable memory. When she worked at Emmanual Lutheran Church, she was always proud of the fact that she could recite every single church members’ name, address and date of birth by heart. She was always the family keeper of records, dates and appointments. She remembered things that the younger family members often forgot.

Carol also loved to travel. Carol and Bill took many trips over the years to Switzerland, Hawaii, Florida and one of their favorite spots, Myrtle Beach. Carol also took many trips with her granddaughters to Washington D.C., New York, Arizona and Florida. Carol was always up for an adventure of any kind. She even talked of wanting to go sky diving when she was in her 90’s.

Carol was the biggest cheerleader and fan of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Carol was at every event there was over the years. She never missed a party, a holiday, a birthday, kids’ plays or kids’ sporting events. Grandma Carol was the constant in the family and in life. She was always there – whatever was needed! Because of her attendance at every single event, she became everyone’s grandma. And if there was a rare occasion that she missed something, everyone would ask, ‘Where’s Grandma Carol?”

Carol was also a great lover of animals – especially dogs. She had at least one or two dogs with her during her entire adult life. There were so many pets, Chippy, Mickey, Sam, Charlie, Meggie, Annie and her current beloved companion, Parker, who was always by her side and will miss her terribly.

Surviving are her daughter, Karen Nordentoft and son, David Ohde; granddaughters, Christine Lenczner and her husband, Dan, Julie Hendricks and her husband, Todd; great grandchildren, Brandon, Gianna and Aspen Lenczner and Justin and Jake Hendricks, and of course, her beloved dog, Parker. She will also be sadly missed by Sharon Tye, who helped immensely in caring for Grandma Carol this past year. Carol was preceded in death by her husband, Bill, son-in-law, Dennis Nordentoft, and Ted Petrakis, who was not only her former son-in-law but a very dear friend.

A private ceremony will be held at Southern Wisconsin Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Union Grove where Carol will be laid to rest next to her husband who was a Prisoner of War and World War II survivor.