Carol Connole

MOHALL – Carol Ann

Connole, 79, Mohall, died

Tuesday, March 8, 2022,

at a Minot hospital, sur-

rounded by her family.

She was born April 21,

1942, in Devils Lake, to

Carris Joseph and Edna

Marie (Tooke) Vandal.

The family later moved to

rural Bottineau where she

attended McCann country

school. She graduated

from Bottineau High

School in 1959.

Carol attended Bot-

tineau School of Forestry,

followed by St. Benedict

in Saint Joseph, MN. She

graduated from UND in

Grand Forks with a degree

in speech therapy.

On June 26, 1965, Carol

met Patrick Michael Con-

nole on a blind date.

They were married June

23, 1966 at St. Mark’s

Catholic Church in Bot-

tineau. Together, they

raised three daughters,

Jacqueline, Stephanie and

Heather.

Carol worked at multi-

ple schools in both Ren-

ville and Bottineau Coun-

ties as a speech therapist.

She was still approached

by former students she

helped expressing their

gratitude for the help she

provided and how they

felt she improved their

lives.

Carol enjoyed many

hobbies. She was well

known for her large gar-

den; she canned all kinds

of fruits and vegetables,

made lots of jams, jellies,

pickles, salsa and syrups

which she shared the

fruits of her labor with

many. Her choke cherry

syrup and jelly were the

best.

She was a self-taught

seamstress and made

clothes for herself and her

family. She also did cloth-

ing alterations for friends.

Her crafting skills were

also widely known as she

sold her creations at many

church bazaars and craft

shows. She sewed tons of

prayer blankets for the

church and sewed many

things for the nursing

home.

Carol was a great cook

and baker. She loved

entertaining guests and

serving others. She liked

to see others enjoy her

cooking. No priest around

the area would starve

around Carol!

Carol was an active

member of St. Jerome

Catholic Church, Mohall.

Her family called her the

“Executive Church

Decorator.” She spent

countless hours decorat-

ing the church for every

season and liturgical

change. She was a strong

woman of faith; she kept

her rosary beads clacking.

She taught elementary

CCD for many years; and

she and Pat taught high

school CCD for many

years. She was a devout

Catholic; in high school,

she attended early morn-

ing Mass before school.

She was a member of the

Christian Mothers, Mohall

Study Club, Bridge Club,

Music Boosters and Serra

Club. She was a support-

er of St. Gianna’s Materni-

ty Home and Dakota Hope

Clinic. She was a big part

of the Festival of Trees

fundraiser for the Dakota

Hope Clinic.

She also enjoyed

reupholstering furniture

and stripping old paint

and re-staining. She

wallpapered many houses

and places, including the

Good Samaritan Society

nursing home with Mari-

lyn Brunner.

Carol taught Happy Day

Preschool from 1988 to

2000. She loved young

people and children. She

was so loving, patient,

kind and gentle with little

people. She called them

“my little people.”

In addition to

volunteering at church,

she volunteered at the

nursing home and did a

reading program with first

graders at M-L-S for a few

years. She loved being ac-

tive; she took many walks

along Highway 5 in the

early morning hours.

She loved animals, un-

less it was cats in her pot-

ted flowers. She hated

computers, cell phones

and other technology.

She loved doting on her

only grandchild, Alex

Kopichanski, who was

born in 2003. They would

garden and cook together.

Alex helped her at the

church with all of her pro-

jects. He loved to snuggle

with grandma and have

her read to him. They

were extremely close and

had a special relationship.

Family: Loving hus-

band of 55 years, Patrick

Connole, Mohall;

daughters, Jacqie (Neil)

Harles, Fargo, Stephanie

Connole, Minot, and

Heather Kopichanski,

Mohall; grandson, Alex

Kopichanski; sister,

Connie (Dennis) Olson,

Fargo; brothers, Keith

(Gail) Vandal, Bottineau,

Robert (Evangeline)

Vandal, Bismarck, and

Greg (Jill) Vandal, Bot-

tineau; and many nieces,

nephews and cousins.

Carol was preceded in

death by: her parents; sis-

ter, Corrine Wall; and a

nephew, Andre Wall.

Mass of Christian Buri-

al: 11 a.m., Tuesday,

March 15, 2022, at St.

Jerome Catholic Church,

Mohall.

Burial: Mohall Com-

munity Cemetery, Mohall.

Recitation of the

Rosary: 7 p.m., Monday,

March 14, 2022, at the

church.

Visitation: 1 to 5 p.m.,

Monday, at Brose Funeral

Home, Mohall. Friends

may also sign the online

guestbook at brosefuneral

home.com.

Memorials: Memorials

preferred to Dakota Hope

Clinic, Minot.

(Brose Funeral Home,

Mohall)