Carol Pauline Gahres' Obituary
Carol Pauline (Friend) Gahres, age 81, passed away peacefully in her sleep on February 5, 2023 with her daughter by her side. Born Jan 26, 1942 in Chicago, IL to Bertha and John Friend Sr., the youngest girl of 11 children. She is preceded in death by both of her parents; her husband of 30 years, Wesley D Gahres; daughter, Christine Rene’ (Reynolds) Burke; sisters, Shirley and Eileen; brothers, Alvin, Clarence, Robert, and Howard. She was the beloved mother of Mark Reynolds of Lothian, MD and Sharon Hussey of Annapolis, MD; step mother to Christopher Gahres of Annapolis, MD and Daniel Gahres of Minneapolis, MN; mother-in-law to Shawn Burke, Lena (Brisland) Reynolds, William Hussey, Angie Gahres, and Rachell Gahres. She was a loving Grandma with 8 grandchildren, 4 step grandchildren, 9 great grandchildren and she loved to make Christmas cookies with them all every year. Upon graduating from High School in Burlington, WI, she married her first husband and started a family. The family moved from Wisconsin to Texas in 1966, back to Wisconsin in 1968, then to Illinois in 1970 for a couple of years and finally ending up in Bowie, Maryland. Here she divorced and raised three teenagers on her own until they graduated high school, and met future husband Wes in 1979. She moved to Annapolis, Maryland, and in 1981 married Wes Gahres at the Annapolis Court House. They loved to travel the country and vacation, going to Wisconsin or Florida visiting family, or trips out west to Montana, the Dakotas’, Idaho, Missouri, Tennessee, but also big trips like Hawaii and Alaska. Sometimes they would take the entire family with them for a week at the beach on The Outer Banks of NC, or Disney in Florida which she loved! When Wes retired, they traveled the world visiting New Zealand, Australia, Italy, Germany, Austria, and the UK. She started as a Wisconsin farm girl and became a beautiful sophisticated lady with a big smile who always had fun and loved her family. A private family service was held on Feb 9, 2023 at the Lasting Tributes Funeral Home in Annapolis, MD. She was laid to rest with her husband Wes at the Maryland Veterans Cemetery in Crownsville, Maryland.
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