Obituary of Donald William Carlson

Donald Carlson, age 95, was born in the home of his parents Oscar and Inga Carlson (Grudt) in Bock, Minnesota on March 1, 1928.  He went to the Bock elementary school and to the Milaca high school where he graduated in 1946.  He was proud to have received its medal "Best All Round Student".  He played football and captained the team his senior year. He went into the Army following high school serving on the Pacific Island of Guam.  

In 1948 he enrolled in Gustavus Adolphus College where he graduated in 1951 with a Bachelor Degree in Business. In 1951 he married his college sweetheart Norma (Johnson) of St. James, MN who preceded him in death (2015). They were proud parents of two sons Garret (Barbara) and Todd (Kathy, wife of 30 years) and grandchildren Erica (Tom Koehnen), Brook (Jon Schmidt), Geoffrey, Lindsey, and Kristin Carlson and four great grandchildren, Joshua, Abigail, Wendy and Benjamin Koehnen.

Don worked for General Mills in Minneapolis and Kankakee, Illinois.  He was a Vice President of GMI and ran its Chemical subsidiary. In 1977 he became President of Henkel Corporation when the General Mills subsidiary was purchased by the German company Henkel. In 1980 he received the Gustavus Alumni award in Business.

Don retired in 1983 and he and Norma spent many happy years living in Fountain Hills, AZ, Cross Lake, Golden Valley, Milaca, and Spring Park, MN. 

Don was an avid amateur radio operator, first as WA0ONK, later as ND0M.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Oscar Emanuel Carlson and Inga Christina (Grudt); sisters, Margaret Johnson, Ruth Carlson. brothers, John Carlson and Oscar Carlson

Memorial service will be held on Monday July 31st at Mount Calvary Lutheran Church, 301 County Road 19 Excelsior, MN at 11:00 a.m. with visitation 1 hour prior.