Sheila Kay Carlson

Sheila Carlson passed away on Monday, June 29, 2026, at the age of 75 years at home in Barnesville, MN.

Memorial Services will be held at 1:00 pm, on Wednesday, July 8, 2026, at Our Saviors Lutheran Church in Barnesville with Rev. Alison Haugerud officiating. Visitation will start at noon.

Sheila Kay was born on August 22, 1951, to Willie and Violet (Brasel) Rick in Perham, MN and was baptized and confirmed at St. Paul's Lutheran Church.

She attended K-12 school in Perham and went on to finish her Bachelor of Science degree in Biology, Health and Home Economics education from Concordia College in Moorhead MN. She began her teaching career in Barnesville at the High School and retired from there in 2008 after 34 years. There she taught in all three areas for which she was licensed. In addition to regular teaching activities, she was innovative in developing new options for students such as Occupational Child Care, and Personal Money Management (a Budgeting program for high school students.) In the last 10 years of teaching, she developed the River Watch program as a field water quality monitoring experience for science students. Lessons were added that integrated experiences within the Biology Curriculum. Some of the students would gather data at sites and prepare it for use. For this and students received many awards and recognition in the Red River Valley. Experiencing the “ah ha” moments with students was most rewarding and she was proud of all the accomplishments of her students.

Throughout her career she was the advisor to the American Field Service (AFS) program at school. Many international students and teachers came to the community to live and learn; and some Barnesville students also participated in exchanges. The international teacher's skills were shared with our classes to promote understanding of their cultures one person at a time. She served on the Regional AFS team in MN for all AFS students in the NW MN area.

During her career she taught CPR in the school and community as a certified instructor for Red Cross with 25 years of service. She was a Member Rights Advocate for teachers at the school.

In 1988 during an exchange to China, she met Richard Ma. He too was involved in international exchanges and in 1990 they were married in Barnesville. He completed his master’s degree here. Her marriage to Richard brought more than 35 years of happiness. In recent years they were able to enjoy trips and cruises together. There were always ongoing discussions at home about cultures, world affairs and how these impact people's lives. Together they enjoyed gardening, followed by using the vegetables for new dishes. She is remembered as Richard's wife and soul mate, a sister, a loving aunt, a friend to many, support to those who needed help when it was difficult to speak for themselves, and a colleague and educator for children.

She is survived by her husband Richard Ma, her brother Jerry Rick, her nephew Brian (Kristina) Rick, niece Jennifer (Ric) Bahe, and nephew Todd Rick, four grand nieces, Greta Bahe, Gina Bahe, Kendra Rick and Alexa Rick, and one grandnephew Mylen Rick; an aunt, Dorothy Brasel; cousins; brother and sisters-in-law in Canada and China.

Preceding her in death were her parents, aunts and uncles and three cousins.