Carolyn Kosel, 1939-2022
Obituaries-Mobridge / Posted Feb 2, 2022 | 10:53 AM / 809 views
Carolyn Fern Kosel, 82, of Mound City, SD, passed away peacefully in her granddaughter’s home, where she has resided since 2019, in Aberdeen, SD on January 31, 2022. Funeral services will be at 11 AM, Saturday, February 12, 2022 at St Paul’s Lutheran Church in Mound City. Burial will be at the Mound City Cemetery under the direction of Kesling Funeral Home of Mobridge. Visitation will start at 5 PM with a prayer service at 7 PM Friday at the church.
Carolyn was born July 9, 1939 in Dupree, SD to Marion Olmstead and Earl Fredrich Robb. Shewas one of six children. In 1951, the family relocated to the Black Hills Army Depot in Igloo, SD. Several years later, she met and married Erney Sharp, with whom she had four children: Robert, Pete, Arlet and Nadine.
The next chapter of Carolyn’s life began in 1966, when she met a charismatic young man named Harold Kosel while visiting her mother in Mound City. Her first impression of him was that he was a smartalec but, as was often the case with Harold, his charm won her over. They were married on March 31, 1967 at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Mound City. They would spend thenext 50+ years together on the farm. She loved carpentry work, always claiming she was more handy than Harold, with her signature snicker on her face!
Carolyn also worked as a nurse’s aid at the nursing homes in Eureka and Selby. Tapping into her many artistic talents, she later served as the Creative Activities Director at the Mobridge Hospital and Assisted Living Center, retiring in the early 2000s.
Carolyn loved to share stories of her life, especially about the summers she spent on her grandparent’s ranch, with whom she was very close. Her grandpa taught her to paint and draw, with their art projects creating some of her fondest memories of them together. She loved walking barefoot in the mud with her grandma and swimming together in the nearby dam. She also loved caring for and riding her horse, Socks, and feeding the farm animals.
Carolyn continued to paint and draw throughout her life, carrying on the tradition of teaching the craft to her own granddaughter, Karra. She spent hours playing board games or basketball (h-o-r-s-e) with her granddaughter, Kelli, and always made the trip to watch her grandson, Josh, show off his own athletic skills on the court and field. Carolyn taught her grandson, Korey, to fish, always encouraging him despite the size of catch. She was an avid reader, rarely without a book in hand or nearby. Carolyn was a private and compassionate person. To know her was to love her, as is evidenced by the many people who were not one of her grand- or great-grandchildren, but who still referred to her fondly as ‘grandma.’
Carolyn is preceded in death by her husband Harold Kosel; father Earl Robb; mother Marion Ankerson; step-father Martin Ankerson; sisters Peggy Bockman and Cherry Myrvik; brother-in-law Dennis Myrvik; and grandson Justin Sharp.
She is survived by her brother Bill Robb; sisters Marlene (Reldon) Doyle and Pearl Ann (Dick) Myrvik; son Robert (Sherryl) Lee, grandson Joshua (Meagan) Sharp and granddaughter Jen (TJ) Mittleider; son Pete (Carol) Sharp, granddaughters Sarah Snow Sharp and Emily (Mike) Sollenberger and grandson Steven Sharp; daughter Arlet Lapp, granddaughters Kelli (Jeff) Severson and Karra (Michael) French, and grandson Korey Lapp; daughter Nadine Sharp, and grandsons Jason Sharp and Rory Johnson; and daughter-in-law Pam (Jon) Kossan.