Carol Gnadke

Carol Gnadke, age 81, passed away on December 12, 2023.
A joint funeral service for Carol and John will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, January 6, 2024, at Ankeny Baptist Church (2842 SW 3rd St. Pl.) with visitation from 10:00 – 11:00 a.m. The service will be live streamed at https://livestream.com/ankenybaptist/events/11044951.
Carol Jean (Eide) Gnadke was born August 30, 1942, in Minneapolis, MN to J. Orlin and Edith M. (Nelson) Eide. She grew up in the city but spent many summers at the farm in Wisconsin with her Grandparents and cousins. Since she was the city slicker, she preferred to sit and drink lemonade while the actual farm girls did the hard labor.
Carol graduated from Washburn High School in 1960. Afterwards, she attended Northwestern Christian College when it was a small 2-year school downtown. She was in the secretarial program. Carol continued her education pursuing a degree in Elementary Education at Mankato State University. During this time, she worked part-time as a waitress at Happy Chef. That's where she met her customer and future husband, John T. Gnadke. But before she could commit to marriage, she had one last adventure to try, which was teaching school in Jamaica for a year. She and her friend had a one room class with just a tin roof and no walls. They enjoyed the warm sun, lots of fresh fruit, and unwelcome creatures during their stay.
Somehow, she managed to go back to the freezer of Minnesota. John and Carol were united in marriage in August of 1969. They enjoyed flying together all over in their small airplane. Carol even learned to fly in case John needed help. She taught third grade in the Mankato area until their first daughter was born, Connie, then later Randy. Now she was a full-time mom, but still very involved in church groups.
In 1977, they built on to a small farmhouse at Farmamerica in Waseca, MN. Then came their youngest daughter, Melanie. During this time, Carol loved being involved in church, subbing in the schools, decorating cakes and making flower arrangements. She held down the fort out in the country with 3 crazy kids, German Shepherds, and a traveling salesman husband. In the summers, they hauled the family out on long road trips with the van and camper and traveled all over the US. They also spent many summers up north at Camp Forest Springs in Wisconsin.
Eventually with the busy teen sports schedules, they moved to town near Loon Lake in 1986. They raised their family in Waseca until moving to Ankeny, IA in 1992 due to a job change for John. This was quite a move, but she quickly made new friends in a new community and started a new job for Des Moines Area Community College in registration. In addition to her "real job" at DMACC, she was the secretary for John's company, Advanced Grain Systems, Inc. She kept busy typing letters, doing invoicing, filing, and whatever else the boss asked for.
Soon their nest was empty, but the house was filled with parties and luncheons on the weekends. Carol retired from DMACC, but kept helping John run the business, and continued to enjoy entertaining friends and family and being with the grandkids.
The past few years, she had been busy caring for John full-time. Unfortunately, they did have to sell their home, and move into separate living facilities. Most recently, she made a cozy home at Mill Pond Senior Living in Ankeny where she met even more new friends!
Carol is survived by her husband, John T. Gnadke of Urbandale, IA and three children: Connie (Jon) Brusegaard of North Liberty, IA; Randy (Heidi) Gnadke of Centerville, MN; and Melanie (André) Haddon of Pella, IA; numerous grandchildren, Jeremiah Brusegaard and Caroline Rankin of Maple Grove, MN; Ben Brusegaard of North Liberty, IA; Grace (Joel) Putnam of Phoenix, AZ; David Brusegaard of North Liberty, IA; Reilly (Olivia) Gnadke of Ham Lake, MN; Alexa Gnadke of St. Paul, MN; Landon Gnadke, Carter Haddon, Tyler Haddon, and Ryan Haddon. She is also survived by her brother, Ron and Laura Eide of Parrish, FL and their children, Cris Eide of Boulder, CO and Terri (Don) Dainsberg of Eden Prairie, MN. Lastly, Carol is survived by and preceded in death by many cousins who were like sisters; her parents, and sister-in-law, Linda Eide.
Carol wanted more than anything for everyone to love the Lord and be ready for his second coming, whenever that may be.
In lieu of flowers, please share your love for Christ and the hope He has given you with others. If you wish to make a donation in her memory, please consider:
Cru Ministries (Christmas Gatherings)
Memo: Bademan 0003007
PO Box 628222
Orlando, FL 32862 www.cru.org
Operation Christmas Child
Samaritan's Purse
PO Box 3000
Boone, NC 28607 www.samaritanspurse.org
Forest Springs Camp & Conference Center Kid's Summer Camp Scholarship Fund
N8890 Forest Lane
Westboro, WI 54490 www.forestsprings.us