Pierschbacher Funeral Home

Carol Wilson, 96 of Chariton, passed away April 24, 2016.

Services will be held Wednesday, April 27, 2016 at 10:30 a.m. at the Pierschbacher Funeral Home in Chariton. Interment will follow at the Chariton Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to the Bidwell Riverside Center in Des Moines or the Salvation Army in Lucas County.

Carol Nadine Wilson was born to Kendall Randolph and Lottie May (Chisham) Thompson, on January 1, 1920. She was the first baby of the new year born in Bethany, Harrison County, Missouri. She attended school in Bethany, and graduated from Bethany High School in 1937. Carol attended Missouri Methodist School of Nursing in St. Joseph, Missouri, and graduated with an R. N. degree in 1940. Upon completion of Missouri State Boards, she moved to Cape Girardeau, Missouri, and worked at the hospital for 5 years. While there, she met Kenneth Wilson, of Port Jervis, New York, who was stationed at the Air Field in Memphis, Tennessee. The couple became engaged before his unit was deployed to Pakistan and India during World War II. One month after his return to the states, Carol and Kenneth were married on February 20, 1946 at her parent’s home in Bethany. The couple moved to Port Jervis, New York, following their wedding, and lived there for a year. While in New York, their first child, Marsha, was born. Several months after Marsha was born, Carol and Kenneth moved back to Bethany. Kenneth worked as a carpenter, and Carol did some private duty nursing there. In 1952, Dwight Vredenburg told Bethany’s Hy-Vee store manager, Paul Cochran, that he needed someone to start Hy-Vee’s Carpenter/Maintenance Shop in Chariton for their 26 stores. Paul told Dwight he knew the guy for that job. Kenneth went to Chariton and spoke with Dwight and was hired immediately. The family moved to Chariton. A few years after the move to Chariton, daughter Melody Ann was born. Carol enjoyed being a stay-at-home Mom, as her girls were her pride and joy.

After Kenneth died in 1968, Carol went back at work as an R.N. From 1969 to 1972, she worked as Public Health Nurse, for the Lucas County Public Health office. In 1972, she became Director of Nursing at Chariton Manor. She went back to Public Health in 1978, and from that office, served also as Russell School Nurse until her retirement in 1984.

Carol was a past member of the Rebekkah Lodge in Bethany. She was a member of the First United Methodist Church of Chariton. Carol was a circle leader and was president of WSCS at the church. She was a charter member of the Lucas County Registered Nurses’ Association. She belonged to the Friendship Quilting Club in Williamson, Iowa.

Carol enjoyed retirement and spent many hours reading, quilting, and doing crossword puzzles to keep her mind sharp. She loved to have her family with her, and especially enjoyed the many holidays spent with them.

After living in her home on Armory Avenue for almost 60 years, Carol moved to Southgate Apartments in 2012. She continued to live there through declining health, and was admitted to Legacy Lodge Hospice House on February 15, where she passed away with her girls at her side on April 24, 2016.

Preceding her in death were her parents; her sister, Lovilla Maxine; and her beloved husband, Kenneth.