Carolan, Robert Paul -- 1906 - 1999

MCCAFFREY, CAROLAN, ANDERSON, THOMPSON, ASCHIM, BERESFORD, BRENNAN, CRONIN

Posted By: IA GenWeb Volunteer
Date: 7/3/2010 at 08:35:26

Decorah Journal, Thursday, December 23, 1999

Robert Paul Carolan

Robert Paul Carolan, 93, of Decorah, died Saturday, Dec. 18, at Winneshiek County Memorial Hospital in Decorah, following a lengthy illness.

Funeral services were held Wednesday, Dec. 22, at 11 a.m., at St. Benedict Catholic Church in Decorah, with the Rev. Gary Krapfl officiating.

Alan Sensor was the organist. Joan Schissel was the cantor.

Casket bearers were Bob Dotseth, Dave Sorum, Wayne Wicks, Joe Hemesath, Norb Bohr, Ray Rovang, Duane Snyder and Norman Wheeler.

The French & Balik Funeral home handled arrangements. Burial will be at the St. Benedict Catholic Cemetery.

Robert Paul Carolan was born Feb. 4, 1906, near Decorah, the son of John J. and Martha (McCaffrey) Carolan. Bob farmed in the Bluffton area and in the late 1920s, he worked as an oiler on the Madison and Milwaukee Railroad Ferry Line on Lake Michigan, based in Milwaukee, Wis.

He later returned to Decorah and farmed for 40 years near Frankville, retiring in 1985.

He married Lucille Anderson at Assumption Catholic Church in Cresco May 18, 1936. They moved to Decorah in 1985.

Survivors include his wife, Lucille of Decorah; one daughter, Martha and Robert Thompson of West Chester, Pa.; one son, Robert F. and Meg Carolan of Mendota Heights, Minn.; one sister, Ann and Harold Aschim of Decorah; one brother, John Carolan of Caledonia, Minn.; three sisters-in-law, Teresa and George Vachta of Cresco, Gertrude Bigalk of Cresco and Agnes Beckman of Harmony, Minn.; and several nieces and nephews.

Robert Paul Carolan was preceded in death by his parents; his step-mother, Mayme (Cronin) Carolan; one brother, George Carolan; one half-brother, Cletus Carolan; one sister, Gladys Beresford Brennan; and one granddaughter, Andrea Thompson of West Chester, PA.

Transcribed by an IA GenWeb Volunteer from obituaries found in the Howard-Winneshiek Genealogy Society Library, Cresco, Iowa.