Mabel Borkowski

Mabel Borkowski, age 94, of Carroll, died at the St. Anthony Regional Hospital in Carroll on Friday, June 28, 2002. Funeral services were held Monday, July 1, 2002, at 10:00 a.m. at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Carroll with Pastor Charles Haake officiating. Organist was Janet Hoff and soloist was Angie Becker. There was a prayer service at the Dahn & Woodhouse Funeral Home in Carroll, Iowa at 7:00 p.m. Sunday, June 30, 2002. Casket bearers were David Borkowski, Randy Krowiorz, Kevin Lesto, David Eagan, Mark Walgenbach, and Mike Lesto. Interment was in the Manning Cemetery, Manning, Iowa.

Mabel was born on July 8, 1907, at Washington Township, Carroll County, Iowa. She was the daughter of William and Celia (Kuhl) Vollstedt. She grew up northeast of Manning and attended Washington No. 8 country school where she graduated from the eighth grade. Mabel's mother passed away when she was only sixteen years old. This left her and her older sister to take over the household duties. She was baptized as an adult into the Lutheran faith at Zion Lutheran Church on the evening of May 26, 1927. The next morning she received the rite of confirmation. The Reverend J.M. Ansorge presided at both ceremonies.

On August 28, 1929, Mabel was united in Marriage to Clarence, also know as Dick Borkowski. The ceremony took place at the church parsonage in Manning with Reverend Ansorge officiating. The couple lived north of Manning and later moved to the Botna area. The couple later divorced. Mabel enjoyed cooking and started cooking professionally after moving to Carroll in 1947. Her first position was at the Casino Cafe followed by Pauline's, The Spot, The West End, and Lee's Café. She also cooked on the campus of Iowa State University at the Chi Omega and Alpha Gamma Ro houses. She also worked at a resort for a summer in Maine and she worked at Cheley Camps in Colorado. Mabel was a member of St. Paul Lutheran Church, RSVP, Ladies Aid, the Golden Circle Club, and Card Club.

She was preceded in death by her parents, a daughter Janet Nesje, five brothers and one sister.

She is survived by a son Melvin Borkowski and his wife Leota of Carroll, Iowa; three daughters: Ruby Eagen and her husband Don of Detroit Lake, Minnesota, Shirley Lesto and her husband Gordon of Well, Minnesota, and La Rae Walgenbach and her husband John of Nesbit, Mississippi; a son-in-law Robert Nesje of Wells, Minnesota; twenty-four grandchildren; sixty-five great grandchildren; and twenty-eight great great grandchildren.