Carol Joy Price

Carol Joy Schwanenberg was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota on May 16, 1929.  She was the third child of George John Schwanenberg and Florence Alvina Lundberg Schwanenberg.  Her older brothers were George and Donald and her younger sister, Jean, was born two years later.

The six of them lived in a two-bedroom home and during the depression, an aunt, uncle and cousin lived with them as well.  Needless to say, this was a "close family!"  One of her favorite childhood memories was skating on the ice rink her dad made for them in the vacant lot next door and playing in the tree house he built for them. Carol and her siblings remained very close their entire lives even though Don and George lived in different states.

Carol graduated from Roosevelt High School and went on to attend Gustavus Adolfus College for one year before she transferred to the University of Minnesota and completed her A.A. Degree in General Education in 1949. Initially she was a music major. Her favorite college memories were hitchhiking to different friends' homes on the weekends and her brother Don setting her and her friends up with blind dates. She wanted to become an airline stewardess but did not want to go out of state away from her family for the training.  She met her first husband, Bill Chilstrom, at the University of Minnesota. They were married in August 1951.  Her father died 5 days after her wedding.

Bill enlisted in the Army and was stationed in Germany when their daughter, Linda Joy, was born in July 1952. In December 1952, Carol and her mother and baby Linda packed up and drove to California to live; following her grandparents who had moved to Long Beach when they retired, along with her sister Jean and husband Marold and their daughter Judy who had also moved to Southern California for warmer climate. The family's first home was on Vuelta Grande Avenue near Millikan High School in East Long Beach.

Carol's first job in California was as a cashier/bookkeeper at the Singer Sewing Machine Company on Pine Avenue in downtown Long Beach. She worked there for nine years, traveling by bus every day. Her son, Scott William, was born in December of 1959.

In 1962, Bill and Carol were divorced. Carol started working at North American Aviation as a Materials Clerk/Investigator in 1962. She then got her first car. It was a used light blue Studebaker with manual transmission!  She had to really work at refreshing her driving skills with that stick shift!  She mastered that but never got used to the freeways. She drove until she was 90 years old, always taking "side streets."

In August 1963, Carol married Stanley Price. She had met Stan when she worked at Singer. They bought a home in Lakewood in 1963 next to dairy farms which eventually made way to Mae Boyer Park and ultimately part of the 605 Freeway.

Carol was laid off from North American in 1968 and then got a job in bookkeeping at the LeGran Corporation; a jewelry and watch distributor to the Gemco stores. Lucky Stores bought out Gemco and Carol was transferred to their main office in Buena Park where she worked until she retired at age 65 (1994).  A few years later she went back to work part time for the Retail Clerks Union for a former boss from Lucky's. She continued working into her early 70s.

Carol and Stan sold their Lakewood home and moved to Leisure World, Seal Beach in 2003. They kept very active in their retirement, traveling to many places such as Panama, Alaska, Hawaii, Mexico, London and around the U.S.  They took many cruises, traveling with her sister and brother-in-law and long-time Immanuel friends. She stayed in touch with her Gustavus roommates who all still lived in Minnesota and enjoyed getting together with them as much as possible.

Stan died from Cancer in 2008 and Carol had nursed him during the last months of his life while he was under Hospice Care.

Carol had a very strong faith and belonging to a church family was very important to her.  When she first moved to California, her family all became members of Immanuel Lutheran Church where she met wonderful friends.  In the 1990s she became a member of Christ Lutheran Church in Long Beach where she remained active with the 'Cover Girls' who sewed lap blankets for hospitalized veterans and quilts that they sold as fundraiser for the church's Pre-School.  She volunteered to assemble the Sunday church bulletin and also helped to count the Sunday offering for many years. Her biggest joy, however, was playing in the Bell Choir. Music had always been a part of her life. Each of her siblings was a gifted musician, most likely taking after their father who attended school on a music scholarship and was a pipe organist. Carol was an excellent pianist. She enjoyed playing the bells so much and said it gave her a source of peace and comfort.  In a letter she wrote to Linda & Scott she stated: "Playing in the Bell Choir always made me feel I was playing from the heart.  Maybe that goes back to the movies It's Wonderful Life; "No man is a failure who has wings. Every time a bell rings, an Angel gets its wings."

While living in Leisure World, Carol stayed connected to her new community by delivering meals to shut-ins and helping residents with their taxes.  She played cards with neighbors and also belonged to three different Bunco groups.  One of these groups had been rolling dice together for over 40 years.

Despite her busy lifestyle, she always made time for her family.  She was an excellent seamstress and sewed most of her own clothes as well as Linda's when she was young.  After working all day, coming home to make dinner and care for her family, she made time to sew a new outfit for Linda if a special event was coming up.  She sewed award winning Halloween costumes for her grandchildren.  When she stopped sewing clothes, she started doing needlework and many family members are fortunate to have received a handmade picture or pillow or ornament from Carol.  She attended every sporting event Scott participated in which were many from the time he was in elementary school through high school.

Although she didn't play sports, she was an avid sports fan.  She was an Angels fan through and through and was a season ticket holder for many years until they lost their seats when Disney took over the franchise and remodeled the stadium.  She opted to watch games from home after that. She had several favorite players over the years, but most recently she adored David Fletcher and was thrilled when she received a personal video message from him.   She attended countless sporting events over the years and was the biggest fan of her children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, nieces, nephews, great and great-great nieces & nephews.  If she knew they were playing somewhere, and she could get there (by side-streets) she would be rooting them on with her signature "Woo, Woo" cheer!  She accompanied Linda & granddaughter Alissa on several out-of-town softball and soccer tournaments for several years and was affectionately called "Grandma" by all the other players.

In 2020, Carol suffered a severe compression fracture in her back.  It was very painful for her to get around and she was not able to live on her own. At this same time, the Covid pandemic occurred, and her favorite activities also ceased.  Her loss of independence and sedentary lifestyle were hard on her but she always maintained a positive attitude.  She was fortunate to be able to live with Scott and his wife, Marie in Winchester, CA (Riverside County) for the past 2 years.

She fell and broke her hip on January 4th, ,2022, underwent surgery on the 6th and was transferred to a rehab facility on January 10th.  Less than 24 hours later, she was found unresponsive.  She often spoke of her readiness for death and was not afraid.  A favorite Bible verse was: Deuteronomy 31:8 "Don't be afraid, for the Lord will go before you and will be with you; he will not fail nor forsake you."

Carol is survived by her Sister-in-law Gloria Schwanenberg (San Antonio, Texas); Daughter Linda Joy Chilstrom Giel, Son Scott Chilstrom (Marie), Stepdaughter Sherri Bowker, Grandchildren: Alec (Lisa) Giel, Alissa Joy (Nick) Silva, Sam Chilstrom, Joseph Chilstrom; Step-Grandchildren: Chad, Candice, and Cortney Bowker; Great-grandchildren: Olivia Giel, Camilla Joy Giel, & Sadie Joy Silva and many nieces, nephews and great nieces and nephews and great-great nieces and nephews.