Carol Jane Kersten, R.N.

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Birth: Feb. 18, 1930 Chippewa Falls Chippewa County Wisconsin, USA

Death: Jun. 21, 2009 Rochester Olmsted County Minnesota, USA

Carol Jane Cray Kersten, 79, of Rochester, died on June 21, 2009, at Seasons Hospice, of metastatic breast cancer. A celebration of life gathering will be held at Ranfranz and Vine Funeral Homes on Wednesday, July 1, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. A private graveside service will be held at Forest Hills Cemetery in Chippewa Falls, Wis., at a later date.

Carol was born Feb. 18, 1930, in Chippewa Falls, to Seymour and Lillian (Scholer) Cray. She graduated from Chippewa High School in 1947, attended University of Wisconsin-Stout in Menomonie, and graduated from the Kahler School of Nursing in 1951. On Sept. 29, 1951, she married Richard Kersten in Chippewa Falls, and they have lived in Rochester since their marriage.

Carol worked as an R.N. at the Worrall, Colonial, Rochester Methodist, and Saint Marys hospitals, retiring in 1983 because of severe rheumatoid arthritis. She also was Child Care Coordinator at Lutheran Social Services from 1969 to 1980, licensing homes for foster care, caring for infants, and traveling to Korea to bring children to Minnesota for adoption. She was a member of the Kahler Alumni Association, P.E.O. Chapter CK, Rochester Plant and Bloom Garden Club, and volunteered in the schools and in many organizations over the years. She enjoyed birds, wildflowers, gardening, and growing roses and orchids.

In addition to her husband, Carol is survived by two daughters, Jane Kersten of Rochester and Gretchen Kersten of Shoreview, Minn.; a son, Charles Kersten of Eau Claire, Wis.; and four grandchildren, Benjamin, Elizabeth and Paul Weidman, and Andrew Kersten. She was preceded in death by her parents and a brother, Seymour R. Cray.

Memorials are preferred to Seasons Hospice, where Carol resided and was well cared for since January 2009.

Ranfranz and Vine Funeral Homes, 5421 Royal Place N.W., Rochester.

Burial: Forest Hill Cemetery Chippewa Falls Chippewa County Wisconsin, USA

Created by: DaveVang Record added: Jun 23, 2009 Find A Grave Memorial# 38661896