Carol Jean Stoll

Our mother , Carol Jean Bong , was born in Valley City to Eugene Bong and Ada (Olson) Bong on October 11th of 1933. She was first born and has five siblings: Errol, Connie, Kay, Damon and Jason. She lived in Valley City the majority of her early years but returned to Valley City as an adult frequently every year because staying connect ed to her family was very important.

Carol Jean was mother to seven children. Kenneth Craig died at three months old, leaving: Hubert, Teresa, Denise, Steven, Brian and Angela. She was grandmother to fourteen and great grandmother to twelve.

Our mother was a photographer. According to one of her grandchildren, she was his inspiration to pursue photography as well as other art forms. Her son Steven said: “She was very good at English.” Ou r mother loved music. She sang beautifully. On the day she went to heaven, she was able to listen to her mother sing on recordings of her gospel music. Ada sang beautifully and had many recordings , which our mother treasured. A few days before our mother went to heaven, she did talk about going to see her parents and her baby boy. She did look forward to that. She went to be with her loved ones on February 1, 2020.

She expressed wishes to all her children that they continue to do well and that she’s proud of all of them. We are so thankful for her. And for our lives …. thank you, Mom.