Carol Ann Mathisen Lode

Carol, having made it to her 75th birthday, passed away peacefully at her home. Her long fight with breast cancer and the toll it took on her body this time, was too great. Carol was called to sing sweet songs with the angels in heaven on December 28, 2012. Carol was the daughter of Trygve and Agnes (Jacobsen) Mathisen. She was born on December 22, 1937 in Poulsbo, WA, where they resided until tragedy struck and Agnes passed away when Carol was only two years old. Her father, Trygve, re-married Gudrun (Ringstad) Mathisen and they relocated to Ballard to be cloder to the shipyards. Trygve, being a fisherman in Alaska who was gone for a majority of Carol’s childhood, left Carol in Gudrun’s care. Gudrun loved and raised Carol as her own daughter until she passed in 1989. Her father passed many years later in 2006. As a teenager she loved music and ice skating, and of course attended Ballard High School where she graduated in 1956. She had wonderful friends and close cousins with whom she enjoyed many fun times and escapades. Carol even worked at the canary with her friends in St. Petersburg, Alaska after graduation. Upon returning from Alaska, Carol worked for University Properties in downtown Seattle. She started as an elevator operator in the Henry Stuart building and later as a receptionist. She then met Martin Lode in her early twenties through mutual friends. After a 4-year courtship they finally married on April 6, 1962, and stayed married until Carol passed away. They were mere months from their 50th wedding anniversary. She is survived by her husband: Martin Lode, daughter: Anita Lode Olsen, Grandsons: Derrik Allan Olsen, Dennis Martin Olsen, and Son-in-Law: Dennis Allan Olsen, Jr. and many extended family members here in the USA and in Norway.