Carlene Louise Tagstrom of Sioux City passed away on Thursday, January 18th, at St. Luke's Hospital after a fall and stroke.

As Carlene wished, there was cremation. A memorial service will be held 11:00am Saturday, May 19, 2018 at the Morningside Lutheran Church in Sioux City, with Pastor Darrin Vick officiating. Burial will be in Memorial Park Cemetery.

Carlene Louise (Annable) Tagstrom was born on November 4, 1923 in Austin, MN, the eldest of six daughters of Carlton and Lillian (Cox) Annable. She grew up in Austin, St. Paul, Des Moines and then Sioux City and graduated from Central High School in January 1942, where she played the flute in band and orchestra. She also persuaded school officials to let her take the woodworking class, at a time when only boys were allowed. She and Bert Tagstrom, a fellow student, motorcycled to Waterloo, IA, in October of 1941 and were married there on the 23rd. After living in Waterloo, IA, Joplin, MO, and Chester, PA—and when Bert returned from his WW II Army service in Europe as a motorcycle courier—they settled in Sioux City.

Carlene and Bert had 12 children, and Carlene is survived by 9 of them: Carol of Littleton, CO, Susan Ohlendorf of Ames, Paul (Deborah) of Wynstone, SD, Dan (Judy) of McCook Lake, SD, Robert (Shirley), Timothy, Bruce of Sioux City, Barth of Sioux City, and Alan (Bobbi) of Redmond, WA. The entire family wishes to thank Bruce for his many years of care giving, without which our mother could not have remained in her longtime home. We are deeply indebted to him. We also thank Dan for all his help with financial and legal affairs, and Carol for assistance with health insurance.

Carlene is also survived by a sister, Gail Froyen (Len) of Cedar Falls, and 11 grandchildren: Laura Hubert Day (Scott), Brenda Ohlendorf, Carrie Ball Ohlendorf (Tony), Brian & Andrew Tagstrom, Jeremy Tagstrom, Jason & Karen Tagstrom, Chris Tagstrom (Karen), Mary Tagstrom, & Evan Kennedy (Melissa). She had 7 great-grandchildren: Marie & Michael Day, August Ball, Charles Tagstrom, and Drake, Dax & Dane Kennedy.

Carlene enjoyed reading, especially books of a spiritual nature, and was an excellent cook and seamstress. She baked thousands of cookies, innumerable pies and delicious meals and sewed many articles of clothing and home furnishings. She was an active member of First Covenant Church of Sioux City all her adult life (until the church closed in early 2014), and also participated for many years in the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) and Vasa (a Swedish American fraternal organization).

After her youngest son, Alan, was in school, Carlene worked as a cook at West Junior High School, the Normandy Restaurant, and Green Gables Restaurant. After Bert retired from Northwestern Bell Telephone Co., they both worked 16 years as custodians for First Covenant Church.

Carlene and Bert were married for 65 years until his death on January 21, 2007.

She was also preceded in death by her parents, Carlton & Lillian Annable, sisters Shirley Kellogg, Virginia Bradley, Lois Bengtson and Nancy Bailey, sons Gordon & David, daughter June, grandson Eric Hubert, and son-in-law Douglas Ohlendorf.

Expressions of sympathy may be sent to The Tagstrom Family, c/o Bruce Tagstrom.

Memorial contributions may be sent to Twin Lakes Bible Camp, 7718 Twin Lakes Road, Manson, IA 50563.

In her last years, this quote from John Quincy Adams (6th President of the U.S. , 1825-29) was important to Carlene: “I am very well. The exterior in which I am housed is weather beaten, winter has left frost on the roof, beams have sagged, joints creak, and the foundation is no longer quite steady, but I, John Quincy Adams, am quite all right. I thank you....This is the last of earth! I am content.”