Carol Marie Bode

Carol Marie Bode, age 67 of New Ulm passed away unexpectedly at her home on Friday, March 27, 2026.

Funeral service will take place at 11 am on Friday, April 10, 2026, at the Minnesota Valley Funeral Home-South Chapel. Father Jerry Meidl will officiate, and ennichement will follow in the New Ulm City Cemetery-Columbarium.

Visitations will be held from 5-7 pm on Thursday, April 9th, and continue from 10-11 am on Friday, April 10th all at the Minnesota Valley Funeral Home-South Chapel in New Ulm.

To leave an online condolence for her family, or to sign the guestbook, go to: mvfh.org

Born July 15, 1958, in New Ulm to Wallace and Claire (Sellner) Mecklenburg, Carol grew up with deep roots in a community she loved her entire life. She graduated from Cathedral High School in 1976, and went on to become a licensed cosmetologist, a fitting path for someone who had a natural gift for making people feel cared for.

Carol married Steven Bode in 1985. Though they later separated, they remained close friends.

Her career eventually brought her to Hy-Vee, where she worked in both the produce department and pharmacy before retiring in 2023. But helping people was never just a job for Carol. She spent years as a home health aide and later as a certified medication aide at the Oak Hills Living Center, showing up for people in their most vulnerable moments with quiet steadiness and genuine care.

Throughout her life, Carol was attuned to the needs of others. If you were going through something hard, Carol knew. She showed up for grieving families with food and presence, supported friends through health challenges without hesitation, and lived by the simple reminder she offered others, "Let go, let God." If she loved you, you felt it completely. She never did anything halfway.

Carol took great pride in her heritage as a descendant of Louis Meyer, Peter Mack, and Christian Ludwig Meyer, among New Ulm's earliest settlers. She lovingly tended the gravesites of many relatives interred in New Ulm's cemeteries and found genuine peace in time spent there.

She was preceded in death by her parents, and her beloved sister, Sandy. She is survived by her sisters, Paulette (Larry), Mary Ann (John); her brothers, Jim (Kim) and Ron (Erin); and her special friend, Russ Koester. She leaves behind a large and loving circle of nieces, nephews, grandnieces, and grandnephews – and the Hogen Family, who held a permanent place in her heart.

In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred to the Brown County Historical Society of the Handmaids of the Heart of Jesus in New Ulm, Minnesota.

Mvfh.org

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