Carrol Eugene Juenke

to parents Clarence and Mildred, on August 25, 1930. He was the second

child of five, with older brother Eldro, younger sisters LaVonne and

Barbara, and younger brother Warren. Carrol grew up on the farm,

attended local country schools, and graduated from Hendricks High School in

1948. There he met Evenelle Erickson. They were married August 2, 1949,

in Hendricks. They drove to Seattle, WA for their honeymoon, traveling at

the high speed of 35 miles per hour!

Carrol and Evenelle began married life in West Seattle, living first on Avalon

Way and then California Avenue. During this time, Carrol worked for his

good friend Nick Novito in the dry cleaning business. After 3 years, Carrol

started employment with Gai’s French Bakery, as a driver.

Carrol and Evenelle had their first child, Catherine Eileen, in 1951. They

moved to a new home in West Seattle, and here were born Melinda LaVonne

in 1956 and Eric Carrol in 1960. Memories of West Seattle include the

annual Christmas displays in each yard of “Santa’s Circle”, hydroplane races

around the block, neighborhood parties and parades, many good friends and

the blessing of having family close: Evenelle’s sister Alice and Burt

Peterson and their family, and Evenelle’s parents, Oscar and Emma Erickson,

lived in the same neighborhood.

Carrol and Evenelle moved the family to Issaquah in 1965, building their own

home in a community named “High Valley”. This home included 3 acres of

land and a barn for the horses. Evenelle and Carrol had a big garden and

beautiful yard. The children had horses and trails to ride them on close by.

They were 30 minutes from Snoqualmie Pass, and the family often skied

together there during these years. Carrol would bring a loaf of fresh

bread from the bakery to eat as we headed for the mountains. 25 years of

marriage was celebrated at this home in August of 1974.

Cathy married Timothy Takayoshi in 1979, and in 1980, Carrol and Evenelle

became grandparents for the first time when Michael Tomeo was born.

Lucky little Michael was cared for during work hours by Grandma Juenke in

the High Valley home for his first two years. During these years, Carrol

and Evenelle welcome two more family members: daughter Melinda married

Cliff Laplant in 1983, and son Eric married Kirsten Hansen in 1985. Carrol

continued his work for Gai’s Bakery, moving on to supervisor and eventually

Sales Manager. At Gai’s, Carrol made many loyal friends among his colleagues

and the restaurateurs and grocers he served. He was proud of the

products Gai’s produced and worked hard to provide the best service to his

customers. We always had the best, freshest bread at home!

They sold the High Valley house and moved to Federal Way in 1985. Here

they celebrated 40 years of marriage in August, 1989. Carrol and Evenelle

then designed and built a new home at Sunset Valley Farms, near their old

Issaquah home, in 1990. They lived here for the next ten years. They had

over an acre at this site, and again, planted a large garden for corn and

vegetables. Their next two grandchildren were born in 1990: Amy

Catherine Takayoshi and Christian Eric Juenke. Memories at the Sunset

Valley Farm home include Easter egg hunts in the garden, “Fall Harvest”

parties where the children would dig and pile potatoes, and barbecues with

Carrol’s famous hamburgers, sweet corn, and malted milk shakes. Carrol and

Evenelle celebrated 50 years of marriage in August, 1999, with a party in

the back yard. This year, their fourth grandchild was born, Taylor Nicole

Juenke.

In 1985 Carrol retired from Gai’s Bakery and he and Evenelle opened a video

store, “Premiere Video”, in Burien. They owned and operated this store

successfully for the next ten years, from 1985 to 1995. Their daughter

Melinda managed the store, and Carrol’s sister Barbara worked there as

well. They enjoyed helping customers find video entertainment and strived

to provide excellent service to their customers.

Carrol and Evenelle were very active over the years. They enjoyed snow

skiing with family and friends in the winters, and boating in the summers on

the lakes and waterways near home. They were always hard at work in the

garden, tending to the horses, or planning another trip. They enjoyed many

travels over the years. They made frequent trips back to Minnesota to

their home town of Hendricks. They took family vacations to California and

Nevada. They traveled to the east coast of the United States, to the

southern states, Alaska, Mexico and Canada. They visited Europe, and twice

visited Evenelle’s relatives in Norway. They owned a shared condo on Maui,

Hawaii, and the family enjoyed many vacations there. After retirement

from the video business, they bought a motor home and became “snowbirds”,

wintering in Arizona for many years, first at Lake Pleasant near Peoria, and

later in a park model near Anthem, AZ. They really loved the friends they

made and the fun times shared as “snowbirds”. This past winter, they were

able to visit the home near Anthem and enjoyed time there.

Carrol also enjoyed music very much. He loved Elvis, the Gaithers, the “Ole

Opry” in Arizona, and the “Legends” at the casino. Gospel and country

western music were his favorite genres. He sang along with karaoke and

developed quite a good singing voice! Evenelle would play the organ and sing

the harmonies. Carrol also loved to watch movies and old TV shows, like

Andy Griffith, Bonanza, Gunsmoke and Leave it to Beaver. He was a

Mariners and Seahawks fan. (Well, most of the time!)

Most of all in life, Carrol loved his family and friends. He was a devoted

husband to Evenelle – provider, protector, friend and companion for nearly

62 years. He recently shared with me how he could not have made it this

long without her and what a wonderful human being she was. He cherished

his children and grandchildren, taking part in their sporting events, school

plays, and anything that he could involve himself in. He was so proud of them

all! He so loved little children, and when great-granddaughter Norah Eve

was born in May of 2010 to Michael and Sarah Takayoshi, he was thrilled.

He called her “his little pumpkin” and she brought him so much joy this past

year. In his hospital bed, he had large photos of her within view at all

times, and he would brag about her to all the nurses and visitors.

His friendships were also very important to him. He so enjoyed getting

together with friends for coffee at the diner, for breakfast at the

racetrack, for musical events, or just for visits on the phone. Like his

father Clarence, Carrol excelled at storytelling and loved funny stories and

jokes. Despite his illness, he was still telling stories the night before he

passed away in the hospital.

Over the years, Carrol’s health slowly declined. After his second open

heart surgery in September of 2009, he suffered from kidney failure. This

started a life of dialysis – 3 times a week at the Kidney Center at first, and

then home dialysis 4 times a day. He suffered a fall on May 1st, and it was

discovered that he had stage 4 melanoma in his spine. He had completed 3

of 5 radiation treatments to ease his pain and allow him to go home for his

final days, but it was not to be. He peacefully passed away Saturday

morning, May 21st, at Swedish Hospital in Seattle. He suffered so many

obstacles and setbacks in his final years, but he kept on fighting and giving

life his best effort. The family is so grateful that his passing was peaceful,

with dignity and in little pain.

We would like to thank all the extended family members and friends who

have loved Carrol and support him and Evenelle, especially these last few

months. All of your visits and phone calls were SO appreciated by Carrol

and Evenelle. He would hang up the phone and tell us what “good people” you

all were and how much you meant to him. Pastor Rick Russell visited nearly

every day and was such a comfort to Carrol, Evenelle, and the rest of the

family. We also want to thank the doctors and nurses who served Carrol

with such skill and dedication over the years. In particular, we want to

express our thanks to his peritoneal nurse, Angela, who is a great teacher

and so kind in helping us to learn to do peritoneal dialysis.

Last but not least, Carrol’s children and grandchildren want to acknowledge

our mother and grandmother, Evenelle, for her total devotion to our father

during his whole life. These last few years she has tirelessly given every

waking minute to his needs and to his care. She has done this with optimism

and a smile on her face. We admire her courage, strength, and faithful love,

and can never thank her enough for all she has done and has been to our

father and grandfather and to us.

Carrol was preceded in death by his parents, Clarence and Mildred, his

brother Warren, and sister-in-laws Myrna, Julie and Gloria Juenke. He

leaves to mourn, to celebrate his life and carry on his love his loving wife of

61 years, Evenelle (Erickson), his children Cathy (Tim) Takayoshi, Melinda

(Cliff) Laplant, Eric (Kirsten) Juenke, grandchildren Michael (Sarah) and Amy

Takayoshi, Christian and Taylor Juenke, great-granddaughter Norah Eve

Takayoshi, his brother Eldro Juenke and sister LaVonne (Allen) Dumke of

Hendricks, MN, sister Barbara (Archie) Lovre of SeaTac WA, numerous

extended family members, and many, many friends.

Services for Carrol Juenke will be held at Eastgate Congregational United

Church of Christ in Bellevue, WA on Tuesday, May 31st, 2011, at 1:00 pm,

with viewing from 12:00 to 1:00. After the service, a reception will be held

in the church, followed by a graveside service at 3:00 pm at Greenwood

Memorial Park, 350 Monroe Avenue NE, Renton, WA.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the NW Kidney Center,

Eastgate Church, or to a charity of your choice.

of Greenwood Funeral Home, Renton, WA.