Carol A. Varner

To join Carol's family for her Funeral Service please click on the Live Stream below her obituary.

Carol Arlene Haas Varner was born on March 24, 1933, in Dickinson, North Dakota, to Carol Mildred Marie House Haas and John Frank Haas. Here she is in her own words, written in 2009.
“I was born laughing and talking. (Those who have known me well will attest to this.)
At 3, I learned to sing.
At 5, with my mother’s help, I taught myself to read, so I could read comics.
At 6, I began to write; in the following decades, a few poems and essays appeared in various publications.
At 7, with my mother’s help, I started learning how to cook and bake. I always knew how to clean; somewhere in here I started doing it.
At 10, I learned to crochet from my mother.
At 22, I earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Education from the University of North Dakota, and married Jack.
At 23, I learned to knit from my mother-in-law.
At 23, I gave birth to Jackie.
At 25, I gave birth to Cindy.
At 28, I became an ardent Minnesota Twins fan and a student of baseball.
At 31, I gave birth to Peggy.
At 31, I began learning to sew. I’ve worn out two Singers and given one Bernina a good run.
At 51, I earned a Master of Liberal Arts degree from Moorhead State University.
I’ve always loved flowers; at 60, I learned how to force hyacinths to bloom in winter.
At 75, I learned hardanger from an instruction book.
Between 22 and 66, with time-outs every now and then, I taught either music or English in various forms in Grand Forks, Borup, Halstad, Villard, Starbuck and at Concordia College.
The time-outs include a few years’ working as a clerk for Nels Vogel Music in Moorhead, and few years as secretary and office manager of the Comstock Memorial Union at MSUM.
At 76, as I write this, I’m still talking, laughing, singing, reading (including the comics), and doing needlecrafts. I have hyacinths blooming on the windowsill in January, I write a little poetry now and then, and I’ve taken to working crossword puzzles in the evening. I’ve just ordered “The Best Casserole Cookbook Ever” by Beatrice Ojakangas, and I’m thinking about taking an art class.”
Carol was a voracious reader and lifelong learner, an excellent seamstress, and a great cook and gardener. She loved camping, singing, baseball, and family. She passed away peacefully at the age of 92 on December 5, 2025, hearing family members singing Christmas carols to her.

Carol is survived by her siblings, John L. (Ruthie) Haas, Sylvia Lillibridge, C.B. Haas, Ruthie (Larry) Johnson; children, Jackie (Dave) Feil, Cindy (Sam) Wagner, and Peggy (Glen) Morken; grandchildren, Christina (Dave) Krist, Nick Wagner, Chris (Rose) Wagner, Connor (Caitlin) Neill, and Ramona Neill; step-grandchildren, Mara (Jody) Morken Mousseau and Kaleb Morken; great-grandchildren, Remi, Isadora, Jasper, Avery, Jack, Dahlia, Glen, Violet, and Michael.

A Visitation for Carol will begin at 12:00 PM, Saturday, December 13, 2025, followed by her Funeral Service at 1:00 PM in Korsmo Funeral and Cremation Service, Moorhead. She will be laid to rest in Evergreen Cemetery, Moorhead.

(Korsmo Funeral and Cremation Service, Moorhead, MN)