Hultgren, Carole Ruth Benander

Born September 11, 1940, in La Porte, Indiana, the daughter of Rudolph and Ruth (Nelson) Benander. She grew up in Rockford, Illinois, graduating from high school there in 1958. She went on to graduate from Augustana College, Rock Island, Illinois (1962) with an education degree, where she sang all four years in the Augustana College Choir and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. In 1965 she married Arland Hultgren in Rockford, and the couple raised three children. She taught elementary grades in Rockford and in Bergenfield and Teaneck, New Jersey. After moving with her family to the Twin Cities in 1977, she worked many years as a volunteer coordinator at Lyngblomsten Care Center, St. Paul. She traveled with her husband to Europe, the Middle East, and Australia and enjoyed singing in church choirs and choral groups. A resident of North Oaks, she died on December 31, 2025, at the age of 85.

A devoted and loving wife, mother, grandmother, sister, and aunt, she is fondly remembered for her kindness, warm personality, her love of music and reading, her concern for and interest in people and their lives, and her strong Lutheran faith. She saw the best in people and tried to bring the best out of them.

She was preceded in death by her parents, her sister Joan Sellman, and brother-in-law, Greg Callsvik. She is survived by her husband of sixty years, three children: Peter (Heather) of Woodbury, Stephen (Heidi) of Adelaide, Australia, and Kristina (Kris) Fredrick of Minneapolis, and eight grandchildren: Marcus Hultgren of Chicago and Valerie Hultgren of Middleton, Wisconsin; Matthias, Hans, and Anna Hultgren of Adelaide; and Espen Fredrick of St. Peter, Minnesota, Owen Fredrick of Vadnais Heights, and Nora Fredrick of Minneapolis. She is also survived by two sisters: Anna Marie (Thomas) Warren of Beloit, Wisconsin, and Joyce Callsvik of Wenatchee, Washington.

A Service of Remembrance and Thanksgiving will be held on Wednesday, January 7th, at 11:00 a.m., Gustavus Adolphus Lutheran Church, 1669 Arcade St. N., St Paul. Visitation will be an hour prior to the Service. Memorials preferred to Lutheran World Relief (lwr.org) or the Alzheimer’s Association (alz.org).