Obituary of Carol Jean Dettlaff

Carol Jean Dettlaff

Carol Jean Dettlaff, age 82, late of Plainfield, and formerly of Minooka, Lake Ozark and Canton, MO, passed away unexpectedly, Thursday, August 12, 2021 at Advocate Christ Medical Center, Oak Lawn.

Born September 6, 1938, she was the daughter of Carl Adolph and Anna Elizabeth (Nolan) Lundstrom, and was a graduate of Minooka High School. As a child, Carol grew up on a small rural farm in Minooka and enjoyed playing outside with the animals on the farm.

She worked at Caterpillar for many years and enjoyed numerous company camping trips with family and friends all over the midwest. She was also a talented professional baker and wedding cake decorator and ran a business.

She was very involved with her family and spent many days babysitting and spending quality time with her grandchildren.

Carol enjoyed going out dancing, loved to play all kinds of card and dice games, and going to Bingo. She made many life-long friends playing Bingo while living in Missouri. Carol was a “night-owl” and could always be found at the game table well into the late hours of the evening, encouraging others to stay for just “one more game.” She was also on multiple bowling leagues and always held an office.

Carol loved to travel and experience new places. She was able to take the trip of a lifetime to Russia with her painting club and stay with a Russian painter and his family. She also went on an Alaskan cruise with her husband Jim and family.

She was a beautifully talented artist and has left many beautiful paintings for her family to enjoy for years to come.

Carol was also an avid animal lover and considered her kitties her “children.”

Carol, or “Minky” as she was lovingly referred to by friends and family, was a spirited social butterfly, always looking to do something fun and gather with friends and loved ones to chat, laugh, play games, and enjoy company. She was also always the first one to make friends in new social situations and never afraid to engage strangers in friendly conversation.

She earned the nickname “Minky” when her grandson Patrick was unable to say Grandma as a toddler, it came out “Minky,” she loved it and the name stuck ever since.

Over the years, Carol served as Vice President of her local Lions Clubs, she was a member of the American Legion, and President of her painting club: Society of Decorative Painters. She was an active member in church and went to weekly bible studies when she lived in Missouri, where she met many life-long friends. In more recent years, she was a resident at American House in Plainfield, IL, where she met many wonderful people who “felt more like family” and she also served as resident liaison which she loved doing because it allowed her to get to know everyone in the community. Carol was never a “passive” participant in anything she did, she would always jump in head first and help organize and lead events for others.

She was the type of person that you could call and catch up with for over an hour and it would seem like no time has passed since you last spoke. In every conversation, she made sure you knew how much she thought of you, cared about you, and prayed for you, and would always remind you to look to God in all circumstances.

Carol was a commanding presence, strong in her convictions and never wavering in her beliefs and values. She never shied away from honesty, but her words and advice always came from a place of genuine caring and compassion for others. She was feisty, strong-willed and independent; qualities that carried her through life’s trials and tribulations.

Despite being a widow numerous times, she was blessed with “blended family” including many children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren who she dearly loved. She was grateful to spend what time she could during the last year with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren but felt especially blessed to have great-grandchild Kylie Rae around to teach her things, bake with her, and play. She was able to talk to Kylie about Jesus and enjoyed reading to her from Kylie’s children’s bible.

Carol loved people and she loved life and lived it to the fullest. She voiced many times in her last days that she was not afraid to leave this world because she knew exactly where she was going and who she was going to see. In her last moments, her message to everyone was that she “loves you all and God Bless.”

Surviving are her beloved daughter, Kathleen (Patrick) Wilda of Minooka; Step-son Sonny (Denise) Voss, her grandchildren, Kyle (Alyssa) Wilda, Samantha Martin, Nicholas (Kim) Lasser, Nicholas (Danielle) Voss, Derek Voss, Gabrielle (Rob) Rabenau, DeAnna Voss, Rachel (Chad) Hornsby; great-grandchildren, Kylie Rae Wilda, Riley Lasser, Abby Voss, Landyn Voss, Spencer Voss, Margaret Voss, William Rabenau, Jacob Rabenau, and several other beloved step children, grandchildren and cousins including the Boyle, Voss and Dettlaff families.

She was preceded in death by her husbands, Arthur Boyle, Robert Voss, and James Dettlaff; two grandsons, Patrick Carl Wilda (2015) and Bruce Allen Wilda, in infancy; her parents, Carl and Anna Lundstrom; and her special companion, Edward Blake.

Visitation for Carol will be held Tuesday, August 17, 2021 from 3:00 to 7:00 p.m., at the Fred C. Dames Funeral Home, 3200 Black Road, (at Essington Road), Joliet. Funeral services will be held Wednesday, August 18, 2021 at 10:30 a.m., at the funeral home. Interment will be in St. Mary Cemetery, Minooka.

Memorials in her name to the Will County Humane Society, 24109 Seil Road, Shorewood, IL 60404 (www.willcountyhumane.com) would be appreciated.

For more information, please call (815) 741-5500 or visit her Memorial Tribute at www.fredcdames.com