Carolyn A. DeSmidt, loving wife, mother, grandmother and great grandmother, aged 99, passed away peacefully at her home on Friday, April 12, 2013. She will be dearly missed. She was born in Racine on January 16, 1914. She was the daughter of the late Christian and Wilhelmina (nee: Petersen) Christensen. She was one of 10 children. She married Marvin DeSmidt on July 26, 1932. Together, Marvin and Carolyn ran their home based business, “DeSmidt Tree Service.” Carolyn not only kept the business running smoothly and handled all office related tasks, but also caringly raised their daughter, Susan. She kept a warm, loving and tidy home and prepared delicious home cooked meals daily. She welcomed family to her home on every holiday and was always a most gracious hostess. She kept this tradition going well into her 80’s. Carolyn and Marvin enjoyed traveling together and visited 49 of the 50 states. Her favorite state was Hawaii. In her spare time, she enjoyed reading, crocheting and also hosted a bridge club for many years. She enjoyed baking and loved animals. She volunteered time delivering for the meals on wheels program and often helped during local elections counting votes. Carolyn always conducted herself with grace and dignity and loved to laugh at a good joke. She enjoyed a special relationship with her granddaughter, Penny.
She was preceded in death by her siblings and her loving husband of 74 years, Marvin.She is survived by her daughter, Susan (Frank) Bado; grandchildren, Penny (Pete) Niccolai, Robert (Carolina) Bado, and Michael Bado; great -grandchildren Zachary, Maxwell, Julia Bado and Trevor Niccolai. She is further survived by nieces and nephews, Skip (Sharon) Seidel, Roger (Joyce) Kaiser and numerous others including great nieces and nephews.
Relatives and friends of the family are invited to meet with the family at the funeral home on Thursday evening, April 18, from 4-6 p.m. In lieu of flowers, memorials to Countryside Humane Society have been suggested.
The family would like to extend a most sincere thanks to Home Instead caregivers, especially Flora “Denise” Mack, for their excellent care and support.
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