Carole Jean Pralle

August 28, 1934-November 10, 2023

Carole Jean Pralle was born in a farmhouse in Slayton, Minnesota in 1934. She was the youngest of 6 children. Because her mother died when Carole was only 2 years old, she was raised by her sisters, particularly her oldest sister, Irene. She attended Augustana University in Sioux Falls, South Dakota and graduated with a degree in primary education. After college, she moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota to take her first job teaching 5th grade. It was in Minneapolis that she met her husband-to-be, Robert Pralle.

Carole and Bob moved to Ohio, where their two children, Jill and Sarah, were born, and after a trip to New England in the late 1960’s, decided to move east. Bob loved Maine’s rugged coastline, while Carole was attracted to Vermont’s rolling mountains. They compromised and moved to New Hampshire, settling in Wolfeboro in 1970. Carole got a job teaching third grade at Tuftonboro Central School where she worked for more than 30 years. She remembered all of her students and loved running into them, their kids and their grandkids in the grocery store or on the street.

Carole was a long-time member of the Village Players theater, making costumes and props or singing in the chorus. She was also involved in a play reading group, a poetry group, and a tea-drinking group. She regularly volunteered for Democratic political campaigns.

She loved going to Wells, Maine to walk the beach at low tide and eat at Billy’s Chowder House. She was always up for an adventure and was a good sport when her daughters took the “scenic route” (or got lost) on one of their frequent drives around the area. She loved yard sales, sunflowers, musicals, and being at home, sitting on her deck. She was the definition of classy and would often be found sporting a fun hat and colorful scarf. Carole took particular delight in being a “grammy” to her granddaughter, Lila. They spent many hours reading books, taking walks in the woods, doing morning exercises, and playing dress-up with one another.

If you were lucky enough to know Carole, you would experience a warmth and attention that made you feel like you were the only one in the room and a sense that she was just thinking about you. She would greet you with an exclamation and a smile, inquiring about the details of your life and delighting in your news. She was an outstanding listener and treated everyone with dignity, respect and kindness.

She believed that getting a good education was the most important thing a person could do for him or herself.

She was a perpetual glass-half-full kind of person.

She will be deeply missed by many, especially her daughters, Jill Pralle (of Montpelier, VT) and Sarah Pralle (of Fayetteville, NY), their partners Trevor Tait and Brian Mittelstaedt, and her beloved granddaughter, Lila Marie Mittelstaedt. 

Send to someone

Share this obituary with others

https://everloved.com/life-of/carole-pralle/obituary/

Copy