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Carol Ann Dreith, 83, of Storm Lake died Aug. 17, 2026, at Methodist Manor Retirement Community in Storm Lake.
Memorial services will take place Saturday, Aug. 22, at 10:30 a.m. at Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Storm Lake. Burial will be at a later date in Utah. Fratzke & Jensen Funeral Home in Storm Lake is in charge of the arrangements.
Carol Ann Peterson Dreith was born on June 21, 1943, in Logan, Utah, to Gilbert and Carma Peterson. She attended Utah State University and was a car hop at one time. In 1975, she married Richard (Dick) Dreith in Las Vegas, Nev. Each brought children to the union — Richard brought two daughters and a son and Carol brought two daughters. From that day forward, if anyone asked Carol how many children she had, she always said five. If asked which ones were hers and which ones were Dick’s she would invite them to guess, but she would not divide her five children by his or hers…they were “ours.”
Carol was a member of Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. She made sure to take her children to church and woke them up at 5 a.m. every morning to get them to early morning seminary during their four years of high school. She held many callings over the years — she was a devoted Relief Society President and Temple worker. Carol was a girl scout leader, a director of Tehachapi’s Junior Miss for many years, a seamstress who sewed countless prom dresses and uniforms for her four daughters who rode with the Tehachapi Equinettes, an equestrian drill team and traveled with them to numerous rodeos and events. She was the biggest fan of her children, attending many football games to watch her son play and her daughters cheer. She loved animals and had too many over the years to name! She loved birds and butterflies and could identify the different species. She was a Master Gardener who loved to plant flowers and a huge vegetable garden. She canned the produce she grew and taught these skills to her children. She was an excellent cook and loved to feed people. She has many, many blue ribbons for her countless entries in the Mariposa County Fair.
Carol lived most of her life in California. In 2008, she retired from a 20-plus year career with the California Department of Corrections where she served as secretary to the warden. In 2015, she and Dick left California to join family in Storm Lake.
Carol is survived by her husband Richard “Dick,” to whom she was married for 51 years; daughters: Rena (Bill) Rodgers, Kim (Mike) Kelly, Suezan (Lee) Dutfield and Melinda Thompson; son Richard (Jamie) Dreith; grandchildren: John Alvarez, Alisha Billington, Kayla Rodgers, Randi Masseroni, Sawyer Rodgers, Cheyenne Rodgers, Ethan Rodgers, Patrick Kelly, Zachary Kelly, Matthew Kelly, Kristian Kelly, Garrett James, Taylor James, Logan James, Cooper Dutfield, Delaney Robertson and Colton Dreith.
Carol was met in heaven by her granddaughter, Maddisen Dreith. She is also survived by 15 great-grandchildren.
