Editor's Note: The following death notice is from the Benson & Langehough Funeral Home & Cremation website.
Carol Rose Thunem (nee McIntire) was born on July 19, 1947, in Norwalk, Ohio, to Leonard and Esther McIntire (nee Hoernemann). She was raised in various Ohio communities and graduated from Logan, Ohio High School in 1965, where she was a member of the National Honor Society. After graduation, she volunteered in an inner city mission helping disadvantaged youth in Dayton, Ohio. Carol received her Bachelor of Arts in Choral Music in 1969 and Master of Arts in Music in 1977 from the University of Wisconsin – Madison. She taught music in Neillsville and Medford, Wisconsin from 1969 to 1978, where her choirs and bands performed at Lambeau Field and routinely excelled in competitions. On June 17, 1978, Carol married Cabot Thunem in Mukwonago, Wisconsin. After the wedding, the couple moved to Lowell, Massachusetts, where they began their family. In 1980, they moved to Muscatine, Iowa, where Carol taught voice lessons at the Muscatine Community College, worked as a substitute teacher, served as the choir director for Wesley United Methodist Church and directed the Muscatine Civic Chorale. She also volunteered extensively with the Hispanic tutoring center and her children’s schools and Scout troop. In 1995, the family moved to Faribault, where Carol participated in numerous theater productions, served for several years as the director of the Faribault Community Choir and briefly taught music at the Faribault Senior High School. Carol worked from 1997 until 2012 at Carleton College, first in telecommunications, then in library technical services and the archives, where she helped organize and label decades worth of material.
Carol deeply loved music. She was a life member of the National Choir Directors Association and enjoyed teaching; directing; singing; playing the piano, organ, flute and guitar; and listening to classical and contemporary music. Carol was also an excellent cook. She took particular joy in providing home-cooked meals for her student employees at Carleton and sending bars and cookies to deployed soldiers serving with her son Carl. Carol enjoyed taking long road trips, pontoon boating, hiking and spending time with her husband and children. She loved her home, her dogs, her flower beds and songbirds. She was a devoted, loving and beloved wife, mother, sister, aunt and friend.
Survivors include her husband of 34 years, Cabot; 2 sons: Carl of Donnelly, Minnesota, Erik of Folsom, California; her sister, Beth (Steve) Kohls of Mukwonago, Wisconsin; 3 brothers: John (Nancy) McIntire of Unity, Maine, Jim (Kristina) McIntire of Seattle, Washington; Bob (Darcy) McIntire of Mukwonago, Wisconsin; nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends. She was preceded in death by her parents, her brother Fred and her niece Hannah Kohls. Hannah and Carol had many memorable, happy shopping expeditions.
Following an extended illness, Carol passed away peacefully, with her husband and sons by her side, on Tuesday evening, June 4, 2013, at her home on Circle Lake, at the age of 65.
Arrangements are with the Benson & Langehough Funeral Home in Northfield. www.northfieldfuneral.com