Carol Karp

Carol Marie Karp, daughter of Leighton Jonathan Ford and Margaret (Blanchard) Ford was born in St. Paul, MN on December 20, 1928 and passed away on her 91st birthday on December 20, 2019, at her home with her husband at her side.

Funeral services will be held on Saturday, December 28, 2019 at 10:30 a.m. at the Parker Kohl Funeral Home & Crematory, 1725 Lyndale Ave. N., Faribault, with Bernadette Tatge, Pastoral Minister officiating.  Interment will be held at the Calvary Cemetery, Faribault.

Visitation will be held at the Parker Kohl Funeral Home on Saturday from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m.

The family prefers that memorials be directed to the Alzheimer’s Association in memory of Carol.

Carol graduated from John Marshall High School, St. Paul, MN with the class of 1946.  She married Michael J. Karp on September 9, 1950 at the St. Paul Cathedral.  After Carol and Mike built their first home in Roseville, MN, they moved to Bovey, MN in 1954 and lived there with their growing family until 1963 when they moved to Faribault, MN and purchased their farm property and made their home.

Carol enjoyed gardening and maintained large gardens, both at the farm and at Bovey, where she and Mike kept the lake cabin they purchased in 1957, and enjoyed their summer retreats and the friendships they made during the years they lived in Bovey.  Carol and Mike were also snowbirds, and for 45 years spent most of their winter months in Kona, HI, where they established lifelong friendships.

Carol was an accomplished artist, first in ceramics and later on canvas and oils, and shared her artwork with family and friends.  She enjoyed nature, and could easily identify plants, flowers and birds native to Minnesota.

Carol raised her five children on the farm and volunteered for their activities, including 4-H, Cub Scouts, sports, band and at Immaculate Conception School.  She was proud of their accomplishments in adulthood and kept them informed of the news from home, and the extended Karp and Ford families.

Carol’s family extends a special thank-you to her caregiver, Carol Musel.

Carol is survived by Michael J. Karp, her husband of 69 years; their children, L. Peter Karp (Dee Gutierrez) of Cashmere, WA; Michael (Julie Pettipiece) Karp of Mankato, MN; Rosemary (Robert) Johnson of Faribault, MN; Mary Woods of Carver, MN; daughter-in-law, Deb Karp of Lindstrom, MN; her grandchildren, Daniel (Brittni) Karp, Michael Tyler Karp, Benjamin Karp, Jonathan Karp, Elizabeth Karp, Nathan Woods, Morgan Woods, Matthew (Jaye) Hilley and D.J. Hilley; her sisters, Doris Schussler and Dorothy Ford; her brother, Richard (Blanche) Ford; her sister-in-law Mary Lou Pluemer; her brother-in-law, Richard (Shirley) Karp and many other relatives and friends.

She was preceded in death by her son, Charles J. Karp; her parents Leighton and Margaret; brothers and sisters-in-law Donald and Avis Ford, Alan and Joan Ford, and Robert Ford; brother-in-law, Bruce Schussler; father and mother-in-law Michael P. and Mary C. Karp; sisters and brothers-in-law Catherine and Leslie Mino, Robert L. Pluemer, and Cecilia and Gerald Friesen.