Carol Ann Bostrom

Carol Bostrom was born and raised in Arlington Heights, Illinois. She was the daughter of Ruth (nee Hasemann) and Ralph Hoffie (a former Village Trustee of Arlington Heights). She is preceded in death by her parents, her in-laws Mabel (nee Johnson) and Carl Bostrom (a former president of the Chicago Board of Trade), and she was the youngest of 23 first cousins.

Carol attended Arlington High School in the early 50’s and was active in many areas. She received the activities award her senior year, was a cheerleader for four years, and was an all-star volleyball and basketball player.

Carol attended the University of Illinois, where she met her college sweetheart and husband of 65 years, Don. Carol was a member of Pi Beta Phi. Don was president of Sigma Chi. They were married in 1956. They built their house in Arlington Heights in 1965 and raised their children and lived there for 60 years. They were the very last original owners in their neighborhood and enjoyed decades of block parties, fish fries, and Fourth of July kid’s parades. They were volunteers during the very first years of Frontier Days in the 70’s.

Carol volunteered at Northwest Community Hospital, which led to a position in the Physician Referral Department. She enjoyed cooking, crafts, gardening, and watching and participating in sports. Most of all, she enjoyed being with family and friends. Carol should be remembered for how she lived by faith, loved her husband, and instilled integrity into her children and grandchildren. She was a genuine, loyal, and trustworthy friend and had a wonderful sense of humor.

Carol and Don were blessed with three sons Mark, David (Laura), and John (Kathy), eight grandchildren Jonathan, Paul, Jordan (Amanda), Daniel, Andrew (Shelby), Matthew, Mark, and Julia, and one great grandson Caspian—who all loved and cherished her. Just as Carol was there for her three sons, she was there all over again for her grandchildren with babysitting, vacations, basketball games, baseball games, Bears games, band concerts, dance recitals, and musical theatre shows. They enjoyed how loving and supportive she was of them, and they visited or communicated with her daily. There was always love and laughter with Grandma and she will live on in our hearts.

Carol was thankful for hospice and the caregivers at Northwest Community Hospital, and her family caregivers who enabled her to undergo hospice care at her home. She chose not to have a formal funeral, but there will be a private memorial service at a later date.

Donations in Carol’s honor may be made to her son David’s non-profit work, Made for Dominion Ministries, P.O. Box 7153, Lakeland, FL 33807-7153 or to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.