October 8, 1939 — March 2, 2026
Carol A. (nee Schroeder) Hanson, age 86 of Elkhorn, WI, passed away peacefully at home on Monday, March 2, 2026, surrounded by her family. Daughter of the late George A. & Dorothy R. (Bayley) Schroeder, Carol was born at Burlington Hospital on October 8, 1939, in Burlington, WI. She was the second of three daughters they would have and raise on the family farm in Mukwonago, WI. In her early years, there were chickens and cows to tend to before school every morning and afternoons, there were vegetable gardens, berry plants, and the numerous flower beds to be weeded and picked during the spring & summer months with her sisters. Carol was a 1957 graduate of Waterford High School. After graduation & turning 18, she started working at Oak Industries in Elkhorn, WI, where she met her husband, Clarence (Red) Hanson. They were married on September 18, 1965, at Caldwell, UMC. They bought a new home near Elkhorn, WI, where they raised three children and lived out their entire lives.
Carol left Oak Industries when she was expecting their second child. At that time, she became a full-time mom and homemaker. She enjoyed cooking, baking, canning, and freezing fruits & vegetables from both her parents’ gardens as well as the two gardens maintained at home. In addition to that, she was a skilled seamstress and enjoyed making Halloween costumes and clothes for her children, as well as baking specialty birthday cakes well before those special character-shaped pans were ever sold. Carol also loved traveling before and after marriage. There were many family trips with Clarence and their children over the years, and even more when the kids were grown and on their own. Italy, Cancun, and Hawaii are a few of the places they ventured to.
Carol’s life was full of family, lifelong friendships, and her church family at Bethel UMC, where she was deeply involved over the years, always willing to lend a hand with bake sales, rummage sales, holiday bazaars, potlucks, various committees, and singing in the church choir. She had a great love of music (yes, she loved the Beatles among others) and always had the top 40 station playing in the car. She liked a little country music, too. Carol also loved the Brewers, always tuning in and checking for scores on her cellphone when she couldn’t get the game on TV.
Carol is survived by her loving children, Terry (Rich) Giovannoni, David (Linda) Hanson, Ross (Rebecca) Hanson; grandchildren, Carmen (Josh) Ognenoff, Michael (Lara) McDonald and Madalyn (Mike) Spiegelhoff; great grandchildren, Ambrose, Emileigh, Isabella, Albert and Naomi; brother-in-law Ronald Hanson and sister-in-law Mary Hanson as well as many nieces, nephews and great-nieces & nephews. She is reunited in death with husband Clarence E. Hanson, her parents George and Dorothy Schroeder, sisters Ruth (Walter) Geilfuss and Jennie (Felipe) Sanchez, brother-in-law James Hanson, and parents-in-law Clarence O. and Elsie (Rippie) Hanson.
