Carol Jean Batcha

Carol Jean Batcha, age 85, of Royalton, MN, passed away Monday, April 30, 2012, at the St. Cloud Hospital, MN, in St. Cloud. Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, May 5, 2012 at St. Stanislaus Catholic Church in Bowlus, MN, with Fr. Michael Kellogg officiating. Interment will be in the parish cemetery. Visitation will be held from 4:00 - 8:00 p.m. on Friday, May 4th and 10:00 - 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, May 5th all at St. Stanislaus Catholic Church in Bowlus. There will be a rosary at 4:30 p.m. on Friday at the church followed by parish prayers at 7:00 p.m. On December 15, 1926, at home on the farm near, Constance, Minnesota, during a blizzard, Guy & Regina (Johnson) Nelson welcomed into the world their 12 pound daughter, Carol Jean Nelson. She joined an older brother, Reed and sister, Iva Mae. She graduated from Columbia Heights High School as Valedictorian. Carol was employed at W.T. Grant Department Store in Minneapolis for three years and then worked at Fisher Paper Box Company for about a year. She then boarded a train all by herself and traveled to Boston, Massachusetts. It was there, she married Clarence Batcha on November 15, 1945, when he took leave from the battleship, USS North Carolina following the war. When Clarence completed his service, the couple moved to the Batcha family farm in South Elmdale, Minnesota. Carol loved to garden, can and freeze the produce from her garden, enjoyed milking the cows and caring for the young stock, sewing, quilting, and growing many varieties of flowers and fruit trees. She especially enjoyed the time she spent with her dog. She was a member of St. Stanislaus Catholic Church in Bowlus. Grateful for having shared her life are her children, Dennis (Elaine) Batcha of Holdingford, Karen (Jim) Krause of Rosemount, Eileen (Norman) Sandberg of Little Falls, Beverly (Dick) Hamilton of Hancock and Barbara (Leo) Czeck of Bowlus; 15 grandchildren and 21 great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by parents; husband, Clarence; daughter, Theresa; 2 infant grandchildren, Gary and Mary Hamilton and siblings, Iva Mae Hackett and Reed Nelson.