Carol Lee Siewert

On the afternoon of Thursday, September 3rd, 2015, Our Lord God reclaimed His earthly angel Carol Lee (Farnum) Siewert for heavenly service.  Born April 29, 1939 in St. Joseph, MI, she was a Southwest Michigan resident her entire life. A Celebration of Life Service will be held 10:30 A.M. Tuesday, September 8, 2015 at Saron Lutheran Church, 510 Main St., St. Joseph, with Rev. Joan Oleson officiating.  Burial will follow at Hickory Bluff Cemetery in Stevensville.  Friends may visit with the family from 2:00 until 4:00 P.M. Monday, September 7, 2015 at Starks & Menchinger Chapel, 2650 Niles Rd., St. Joseph. Those wishing to share a memory of Carol online may do so at www.starks-menchinger.com. The family requests that, instead of flowers, donations be made in Carol’s honor to Lutheran Social Services of Michigan (the organization thru which she and her husband adopted their children).  www.lssm.org  or mail to: LSSM, 8131 E. Jefferson Ave., Detroit, MI  48214. Married for 55 years to Dr. David A. Siewert, a dentist of 44 years in Stevensville, the couple met and started dating in middle school. Carol impacted everyone she met with her jovial spirit, big smile and welcoming hospitality.  A long-time member of Indian Hills Garden Club, The Point O Woods Country Club and Saron Lutheran Church, she always enjoyed being a part of the community. Carol loved sharing her passions for gardening, golf and University of Michigan football and basketball with her husband and life-long partner as they traveled to Ann Arbor with great frequency. Family was always at the center of her colorful and well-lived life.  She loved to travel to see her children and grandchildren in Florida and Tennessee as well as periodic national and world travel with life-long friends. But there was no place like home for Carol.  The picture-perfect, storybook home and gardens she created with her husband in Stevensville were her greatest sources of peace and comfort.  A consummate and giving hostess to many family ritual gatherings and childhood events, Carol found her greatest joys in making her family and guests feel welcome, secure and happy together at home.  In reflecting on her life, some of her children’s friends have said, “When I was young, I always just felt like I belonged there because of her.” Carol’s children will remember her selfless and huge heart, that she wanted everyone she cared about to be a better person, her strength in the face of great adversity, her encouraging spirit, and the carefree childhood she and their father created for them. Her husband will remember her laugh, the loving wife and wonderful mother and grandmother she was, that she always kept track of everybody, and quite simply: that she was a lot of fun! She graduated from St. Joseph High School in 1957 and received her Bachelor of the Arts degree from Eastern Michigan University. Carol is survived by her husband David, brother Bob Farnum, sister-in-law Sunny Farnum, brother-in-law Tom Siewert, children- Derek (Jacksonville, FL), Brian (Nashville, TN), Dana (Benton Harbor, MI), daughter-in-law Lara, son-in-law Dave and four grandchildren- Alexander, Morgan, Kendall and Evan.  She was preceded in death by her parents Eugene and Dorothy Farnum of St. Joseph.