Obituary for Lois Irene Carroll
Funeral Services for Lois Carroll, age 84, of O’Neill, NE will be 2:00 pm Wednesday, April 13, 2022 at Faith Community Church in O’Neill with Rev. Paul Harder officiating. Burial will follow in the O’Neill Cemetery. Visitation will be from 5-7 pm Tuesday, April 12, 2022 at Biglin’s Mortuary in O’Neill with a 7 pm prayer service. Lois went home to be with her Creator and Lord Sunday April 3, 2022 at Faith Regional Hospital in Norfolk, NE. Arrangements are entrusted to Biglin’s Mortuary O’Neill.
Lois Irene Carroll went home to be with her Creator and Lord Sunday April 3, 2022. God gave her eighty-four years. She lived them with kindness and love, passion, perseverance, commitment and sacrifice in serving her family and friends.
Born November 10, 1937 in Rockford, Iowa, Lois was the cherished daughter of Bob and Dorothy Cerwinske. She spent much of her childhood on her parents’ farm, but because of Lois’s severe allergies her dad leased the farm and moved the family to Phoenix, Arizona.
She attended Phoenix Union High School and found she really loved all the opportunities this ginormous school provided. She worked hard and flourished there. Of 900 students in her senior class, Lois ranked sixth academically. She especially enjoyed being a part of the band, where she played the oboe and clarinet.
She continued her education at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls Iowa, but only long enough to meet a very special person. One day as she walked into a classroom to take her entrance exams, a young man noticed this beautiful woman. He waited for her to finish her test so he could meet her. They went out for coffee that day, and in just six months were married. They were married July 23, 1960, in the Little Brown Church in the Vale in Nashua, Iowa. They moved to O’Neill, Nebraska, and God blessed Bob and Lois with three daughters.
Married with three children, Lois remained determined to earn her college degree. For six consecutive summers she packed up her three young daughters and a baby sitter and drove to Lincoln. In 1970 she graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln with a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education and Social Science. Her passion for teaching spanned over twenty-nine years in the public school system. Lois’s heart was for the struggling student, and she put her efforts and abilities into helping them achieve success. The challenges and the reward of success for those students brought her much pleasure.
Lois’s greatest love and confidence was in her Savior Jesus. She leaned on Him through the good and bad days and found her comfort, joy and peace in Him alone. There was always a Bible on her desk and children’s Bibles were available for students in her classroom. Each morning Lois and her students began their school day in prayer.
Lois believed that God directed her to retire in 1991, but her passion for teaching reading never ended. She created her own reading program, marketed and promoted it and continued tutoring students throughout her life.
She delighted in her ten grandchildren and seven great grandchildren. Each Christmas she spent hours and hours writing personal letters to each one.
Mom loved her family well. All you had to do was ask, and she was there to help, to heal, to pray, to love. We miss her so much. So many memories, so many stories to tell of the sacrifices this precious woman made, but there is just not enough space here.
Lois is survived by her beloved husband of 61 years Bob Carroll, daughter Gwen and her husband Bryan Compton, daughter Jennifer, daughter Chris and her husband Chuck Bergmann.
Grandchildren Katy Compton, Erin Compton, Clay Compton, Jacob Abbott, Whitney Abbott, Sydney Abbott, John Bergmann, Hannah Bergmann, Elizabeth Bergmann, Naomi Bergmann
Great grandchildren Kyla Abbott, Grace Gale, Judah Gale, Quinn Conley, Shane Harp, Tucker Gale, Maverick Abbott
Sister-in-law Marilyn Shelhamer, and nieces, nephews and friends.
Lois is preceded in death by her parents Robert and Dorothy (Boone) Cerwinske, her brother Allan Cerwinske and his wife Nancy, niece Tara Cerwinske; and brother–in-law Paul Shelhamer.