Carol Ruth Rosales Obituary

CAROL JANE RUTH ROSALES
NOVEMBER 30, 1924 - AUGUST 24, 2024
Carol Jane Ruth Rosales was born on November 30, 1924, to John and Jennie Formo of Minneapolis - the fourth of five children. Jerome, Lowell, and Warren were older brothers; Shirley was her younger sister. Carol was the last to survive of that generation.
The Formo household was a deeply believing, deeply Norwegian, sturdy model of Lutheran pietist tradition. Steeped in the things of God since a child, Carol was baptized on January 11, 1925, and confirmed in the Christian faith at 13 years of age.
From very early on, Carol came to believe that God had a plan for her life. "I sensed a tug at my heart," she later wrote, "and knew that God was calling me to be a missionary." She enrolled at the Lutheran Bible Institute of Minneapolis for the winter quarter of her senior year in high school, to begin her preparation.
Carol went on to attend Augsburg College for one year (1943-1944), Lutheran Deaconess School of Nursing for three years more (1944-1947), then the Prairie Bible Institute in Three Hills, Alberta. While at Deaconess, she became a Cadet Nurse with the US Army. While at Prairie, she began correspondence with an organization called the World Mission Prayer League.
Carol met with Prayer League leadership at the Urbana Missionary Conference of 1948. She was invited to attend Briefing Course the following summer. "It was there that the lines of my life's course were drawn even clearer," she later wrote. She met a fellow named Ray Rosales at Briefing Course, too. They were engaged by Christmastime.
Ray departed for Bolivia in January of 1950; Carol was commissioned for service in July of that year, then was off to language school in Costa Rica. Ray joined her in San José in the spring of 1951 - and they were on their way together to Bolivia. Ray and Carol were married at Coaba Farm, near Sorata, on May 13, 1951. Bolivia, however, was not to become their home.
The newlyweds understood themselves called to begin a new work in Ecuador. By the summer of 1951 they had established their home in Cuenca. Rebecca was added to the Rosales family in 1953; Cindy in 1954; Kathleen in 1958; and Jon in 1963.
In 1967, the young family moved again - now to Mexico City, where Ray pioneered an extension seminary program and Carol played organ at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church. In 1974 the family moved to Minneapolis. Ray became Associate Director at Prayer League headquarters, while Carol returned to nursing at Park Nicollet Clinic. Carol described the transition to Minneapolis as "harder than any [she] had to make on the field."
In 1984 Ray and Carol volunteered to return to Latin America yet again. They were commissioned, as before, to begin a new work - now along the northern coast of Peru. They served in Chiclayo for two years. Carol described these two brief years, late in her career, as the most fulfilling of her life.
Ray and Carol resigned from the Prayer League in 1986 to join the ministries of the Lutheran Bible Institute of California, where Ray pioneered a Hispanic ministry program. Carol taught piano, played organ at church and pioneered a Hispanic choir. She also completed the BA that she had begun long before at Augsburg -with a degree in music from Christ College Irvine in 1989.
Following Ray's death in 2000, Carol lived in Plymouth and volunteered at Prayer League offices and at Calvary, her home church. For the last 9 years, she has lived with Rebecca in Chicago.
Carol is survived by her children, Rebecca, Cindy (Chuck), Kathleen (Sig) and Jon (Matilda); grandchildren, Ruth (Simon), Nathan (Amy), Joel, Mark (Bitna), John, Peter (Naomi), Alex, Reed, Jacob and Aaron; and great-grandchildren, James, Collin, Charlie, and Lydia.
Services will be held at Calvary Lutheran Church 7520 Golden Valley Road, Golden Valley on Friday, September 13, at 11 am with visitation starting at 10am. Interment will follow at Fort Snelling National Cemetery.
Memorials may be given to Calvary Lutheran Church, World Mission Prayer League, or the charity of your choice.