Carol F. Wilson, 79, of Ida Grove, IA, passed away December 16, 2023, at a local hospital. A funeral service will be held Saturday, January 6 at 11:00 a.m. with a visitation 1 hour prior to the service at Waterbury Funeral Service of Sioux City.

She left behind a hell of a lot of stuff to her family who has no idea what to do with it. So, if you’re looking for hundreds of yards of fabric, 10,000 buttons, storage totes full of craft items, a large selection of Americana, a toaster oven (slightly used) or even enough Rusty Wallace memorabilia to fill a house, 1,000 kitchen and crafting tools that we aren’t sure what they’re used for. You should wait the appropriate amount of time and get in touch. Tomorrow would be fine. This is not an ad for a pawn shop, but an obituary for a great Woman, Wife, Mother, Grandmother, Great-Grandmother and Great-Great Grandmother born on August 5, 1944, in Chicago, IL., the daughter of the late Frank and Gloria (Crandall) Orsi. She married Loren Kroll (deceased) in Sauk Village, IL. Later on, August 26, 1995, she was united in marriage to Charles Wilson.

She leaves behind a very dysfunctional family that she was very proud of. Carol was world-renowned for her lack of patience, not holding back her opinion and a knack for telling it like it is. With that said she was genuine to a fault, a pussy cat at heart (or lion, aka red head) and yet she sugar coated nothing.

She liked four letter words as much as she loved NASCAR (yes, she even rode in a race car on the track in Phoenix, AZ,) riding her quad in the desert, crafting and White Castle. She had a passion for shopping and if you were the one in trouble you got to go shopping as her helpers, when child labor was legal or, so we were told. These words of encouragement, wisdom, and sometimes comfort, kept us in line, taught us the "school of hard knocks" and gave us something to pass down to our children.

Everyone always knew where you stood with her. She liked you or she didn’t, it was black or white. As her children we are still trying to figure out which one it was for us (we know she loved us). She was a master cook in the kitchen. She believed in cooking enough to feed the neighborhood. She loved children and ran her own daycare for many years in her home Dawdy’s Daycare in Sergeant Bluff, IA., and her home in Glendale, AZ. She touched the lives of so many children. She was a founding member of Sioux City’s Missing and Exploited children and worked with the sheriff’s department. She loved doing security for many events and had the ability to meet many artists. While living in Sauk Village, IL., she was a member and president of the Sauk Village Ladies Auxiliary for the Fire Department.

She will be sorely missed and survived by her husband, Charles Wilson, her children, Sandy (Tony) Zwan, Loren (Carrie) Kroll, James Kroll, Brett Wilson, Adam (Claire) Wilson, 30 grandchildren, 20 great-grandchildren, 5 great-great grandchildren, brother, Phil (Tina) Orsi, sister, Marcia (Larry) Witkowshi, brother, Joe (Sherry) Orsi.

She was preceded in death by her sister, Shirlee, brother in-law, James Orange, brother, Frankie Orsi, and sons, Bob Wilson and Mark Wilson.

All whom loved her dearly and will never forget her tenacity, wit, charm, grace (when pertinent) and undying love and caring for them.