Carolyn Jean Moxness

Carolyn Moxness, nee Gatto, of White Bear Lake, Minnesota, passed away on Sunday, September 28, at the age of 80. She was born on November 24, 1944, in Saint Paul where she grew up on Sherburne Ave. in the Midway area.

She graduated from Saint Catherines in 1966 with a degree in elementary education, and making use of that degree, worked as elementary educator for most of her career which started at Saint Columba in Midway and spent most of it at Sacred Heart in Robbinsdale. She also did some work at other institutions like Minneapolis College where she taught ESOL and she also worked at a few different locations in Minneapolis where she taught adult education. Near the end of her career, which went all the way until age 71, she even drove long distances to tutor disabled children in one-on-one sessions.

Carolyn loved engaging in social activities at the YMCA of the North in White Bear Lake, where she cultivated many great friendships and learned to be quite the amateur practitioner of Yoga. Her son, Greg, was honored to have these experiences with her when he went to the class with her, and could be actively engaged in helping to keep her mobile and watching how well she was still moving even in the last year of her life. Her true passion was always socializing with her friends, and many times she would spend hours and hours on the phone with her sister, Suzie, or her late best friend, Nancy. She also thoroughly enjoyed going out to lunch with her friends from way back and also her newer friends from the Y.

Carolyn is preceded in death by her brother, Joe; her father, Albert; her mother, Josephine. She is honored to be in heaven with them now. She is survived by her son, Greg; her ex-husband, Bill. They loved each other up until the very end, despite the divorce, and they loved talking about classic movies especially. She is also survived by her sisters, Joanne and Suzie, who she also loved very much.

Carolyn loved just watching movies and TV in her bedroom. She was a skilled Jeopardy player – recording and watching every episode. Daily she would play the New York Times Wordle as well as games on the special solitaire suite her son bought her that had hundreds of variations, and she also liked Wordscapes and other Facebook games. The games were wonderful for her since they were on Facebook, and she could also regularly socialize with her friends, relatives, and especially her former students while she played them.

Her son, Greg, provided care and compassion until her final moments. He worked from 2017 through the end as her professional live-in caregiver. Carolyn fought extremely hard up until the end and passed away primarily from the natural process of senior decline. She cared so much for her son and she wanted to continue to be there to make him delicious meals before and after he got home from work, and also to pack him healthy lunches. She felt that being in his corner gave her a real purpose in life.

Family and friends are invited to attend a visitation at Wulff Funeral Home on Monday, November 24, 2025 from 4-7pm. A memorial service will be hosted at Saint Columba, 1327 Lafond Ave, St Paul, MN 55104, on Tuesday, November 25, 2025 at 11am.

She will be buried at Calvary Cemetery in Faribault, Minnesota. We realize that this may be somewhat of a drive for some people so I suppose if you ever want to make a day trip down to see her grave, it’s a great old town to see.

Her life was full and long. She beat all the odds and kept going until her body just couldn’t go anymore. Everyone she knew she touched, and she will be missed more than words can express by all who had the privilege of knowing her.