Carol Ann Boock Wolfe (1945-2022)

BOOCK, WOLFE, RUCHOTZKE, MCCORMICK, HANNAGAN, KAESER, SHAFFER

Posted By: Ken Wright (email)
Date: 8/30/2022 at 10:01:43

Carol Ann Boock Wolfe, 76, a small woman with a mighty soul, took her place in Heaven on Aug. 1, 2022, after a long struggle with congestive heart failure. Though the muscle was not topflight, the heart that Carol brought to her seven children, six siblings, and innumerable friends made her an unforgettable woman. There was no one who needed help who Carol did not see through the toughest of life’s challenges with unfailing good humor and cheer.

No one who knew Carol would be surprised to learn that she was giving the ICU nurses fanciful names and making them laugh in the final weeks of her life.

Carol’s funeral will be held on Aug. 13, at Murdoch-Linwood Funeral Home, 520 Wilson Ave. SW, Cedar Rapids, 52404. The visitation will begin at 9 a.m. and the service will be in the chapel at 10 a.m. followed by burial in the adjacent Linwood Cemetery. Visitors are requested to wear masks.

Carol was born Dec. 17, 1945, on a cold, snowy night near Kinross, Iowa. Her three-year-old sister was certain that the doctor had brought her into the home in his little black bag.

Carol inherited her heart problems from her father’s side of the family, though Charles Boock died at age 49 of a second stroke. Her mother, LaVera (Ruchotzke) Boock, died a painful death from metastatic lung cancer at age 50, just 13 months after her husband - leaving the entire family searching for a way forward and deciding which older siblings would take care of the three young children left at home.

After her father’s passing, Carol was married at age 17 and was blessed to have her mother hold her first-born son, Robert D. Wolfe, who was born just six weeks before LaVera’s passing. During the 17 years of her marriage to Robert W. Wolfe, Carol kept herself and her kids busy in Washington, Iowa, especially in the summer, mowing yards, tending the garden, and canning vegetables from dawn until midnight. Even so, she found time for bowling and her team went to national tournaments a number of times.

After Carol’s divorce in 1980, she stayed in Washington and worked at the Frontier Restaurant as a waitress. Eventually she moved to Cedar Falls/Waterloo and became a Home Shopping Network packer for 8 years. Forever the sportswoman, Carol pitched women’s softball in Waterloo until she was 53 years old. When Home Shopping closed, Carol moved to Cedar Rapids and worked at Sedona Staffing Services and then Nordstrom’s until she retired in 2005.

In addition to Robert (Sherry) of Toledo, Ill.; Carol is survived by her children, Richard Wolfe of Cedar Rapids, Robin McCormick (Herbie) of Hardeeville, S.C., Ronald Wolfe of Newton, Rhonda Hannagan of New London, Rachelle (Blaine) Kaeser of Chisago City, Minn., and Randi (Jason) Shaffer of Burlington. Carol is also survived by her caregiver and partner in crime for the last 22 years, Karen Meade of Cedar Rapids.

Carol is survived by 19 grandchildren (many of whom have been so special over the years), and 21 greatgrandchildren, with four on the way. Carol is also survived by two sisters, Joanna Koopman of Ainsworth, Iowa, and Marilynne Reiner of Bismarck, N.D.; four brothers-in-law, Jerry Cochran, Tim Estling, Don Reiner, David Seth; and many nieces and nephews.

Besides her parents, Carol was preceded in death by four siblings, Eugene (Charlie) Boock, Phyllis Cochran, Lois Estling and Susan Seth; sister-in-law, Nancy Neff Boock; and nieces and nephews, Susan Ambler, Kathy Boock, Pam Ray, Kirk Cochran and Chad Estling.

Memorials may be made to Loaves and Fishes, c/o Westminster Presbyterian Church, 1285 Third Ave. SE, Cedar Rapids, IA 52403.

Please share a memory of Carol at www.murdochfuneralhome.com under obituaries.