Early Tuesday morning, September 5, 2017, Carol J. Oja, 95, made a quiet and graceful exit from this world at the Wood Dale Nursing Home in Redwood Falls, MN.  She has gone to join her husband Carl Oja who has been waiting for her since his passing in 1992.  Private family services will be held at a later date.  Interment is in the Redwood Falls Cemetery.  Online condolences may be sent to www.stephensfuneralservice.com  The Redwood Valley Funeral Home- Stephens Funeral Service is assisting the family with arrangements.

Carol was born on December 22, 1921, the daughter of Joe and Esther Goetzenberger.  She grew up in Minneapolis, MN and graduated from South High School.  Carol started her business career working at the Hospital Service Association in Minneapolis, MN (the forerunner to Blue Cross and Blue Shield) where she met Carl.  They were married in Reno, NV in 1942, while he was in army infantry training and she lived and worked in the San Francisco, CA area.  After WWII Carol worked alongside Carl at O-J Rental & Sales a business he started in Saint Paul, MN.  When they moved to Redwood Falls, MN she worked with him at his new business, ACTIVEAID, Inc.  Carol was a creative person.  She loved to work with needlework of all kinds.  She owned and operated the New Era Yarn Shop in Redwood Falls, MN.

Carol is survived by her three children, Sharon Oja and husband Jon McMIllan of Portsmouth, NH; Susan Nearing and husband Charles of Redwood Falls, MN; Mark Oja and Wife Dorie of Redwood Falls, MN; and her five grandchildren, Carolin Nearing of Minneapolis, MN; Barbara (Nearing) Jahnke and husband Brent of Mound, MN; Elizabeth (Nearing) Heggen and husband Brad of Wells, MN; Matthew Oja and wife Kathryn of Ellsworth AFB, SD; and Johnathan Oja and friend Amber Ooley of Duluth, MN; and four great-grandchildren, Andrew and Emma Heggen, and the twins Penelope and Theodore Oja born just this year.  She is also survived by her brother-in-law Byron Oja of Osage, MN and by numerous nieces and nephews.  She is preceded in death by her husband Carl, her sister Marian and her brother John; her brother-in-law Nestor; her sisters-in-law on the Oja side, Ellen, Helen, Enid, Margaret, Eunice, Ruth and Mable; and her beloved sister-in-law Margaret Goetzenberger who died at the age of 103 in 2016.

Carol was a wonderful mother, grandmother, aunt, and friend.  She enjoyed time with her family.  We were richly blessed to have Carol with us for 95 years and we will miss her very much.