DOLL, Karoline B. 1865-1953

DOLL

Posted By: Marilyn O'Connor (email)
Date: 12/29/2010 at 10:50:52

Mrs. Doll Dies;
Early Life Was
Spent In Germany

Mrs. Karoline B. Doll, 88, who was a resident of
Nora Springs for 36 years, died Tuesday, November 3, following a stroke on September 6. She had been in a coma for several weeks. She had left here eight years ago, following a serious illness, and had spent those years in the home of her son, Theodore F. Doll, in Chicago. Of the 54 years since 1889, she lived here for 36 years; one year at Charles City; three years at Evanston Ill., while her son attended college there; from 1924 to 1930 with her son in Chicago; and also the past eight years in Chicago.

For some years she worked as a practial nurse in Nora Springs and was present at the birth of a number of local residents who are now middle aged; some of whose parents are still living.

Mrs. Doll was born in Alsenz Rhine Province, Bavaria, on Aug. 30, 1865, and came to the United States with her parents in 1880. Her four brothers had come here earlier. She married Mr. Doll, a native American, in 1893. They lived in New York City, where he died in 1895.

She returned to Germany once, for treatment at Weisbaden, where she was cured of blindness following an attack of measles, after specialists in New York, Boston, Baltimore, Philadelphia and Milwaukee had asserted that they could not help her. She returned again on a tour of Europe, before her marriage.

Her father owned a vineyard adjacent to the estate of Prince Frederick. The parents and children were of about the same ages, and exchanged visits. The men discussed agriculture and the children were playmates. Mrs. Doll told of having been held on the lap of a young man six years her senior, who was later Kaiser Wilhelm II. When she came to the United States, the Crown Princess presented her with a gift of earrings. Her mother was a descendent of French emigres who fled to Bavaria during the French Revolution, and was a graduate of the University of Vienna.

She is survived by her son, Theodore F. Doll of Chicago; three grandchildren; and one great granddaughter.

She was a member of the Evangelical United Brethren church in Nora Springs.

[1953]