Carol Jean Percival

Celebrating Carol - a Life Well Played

Carol Jean Percival (née Pengra) passed away on Friday, September 11, 2026, following a short but courageous battle with cancer. Surrounded by the love of her husband Kurt and her family, she passed away peacefully, leaving behind a legacy of quiet strength, deep love, and cherished memories.

Carol was born in St. Paul, Minnesota on August 24, 1960 to Clayton R. “Bob” and Jean Pengra. Growing up as the youngest of six girls—and two family dogs—her childhood was filled with softball, winter ice skating, and family camping vacations. Being part of a large family, Carol was used to being recognized as one of the “Pengra Girls”. This taught Carol to carve out her own space, and after high school, she truly began forging her own path. As young adults, many of the sisters played softball and broomball together cementing them as the “Pengra Sisters.”

Carol started her working years waitressing and scooping ice cream at the Bridgeman’s in downtown St. Paul, working briefly with her sister Elaine. From there Carol worked in retail clothing sales before moving into sales and then purchasing and inventory management in the home building supply industry.

In 2007, Carol joined her sister Kathy and brother-in-law John at their business JP Enterprises to help them with purchasing and inventory management. When she started, there were less than a dozen people in the company, and they were working out of their barn. Carol sat at a small desk in the converted hayloft, and she had to fight with Rudy the rooster to get in and out of the building each day.

Carol served as the Senior Purchasing Agent and interfaced with most everyone in the company to one extent or another. Working alongside family was part of what made her time at JP special — beyond Kathy and John, she worked closely with several other family members over the years. As the company grew, so did her responsibilities including working closely with her sister Kathy to find workarounds to make the accounting handle the complexities of the growing business. In 2020, she transitioned to working from home and directed the purchasing team from there until retiring in April of 2026.

In April 2010, on a casual coming-together, set up by a mutual friend, Carol met Kurt, the love of her life. They were soon inseparable. In June of 2012, Carol and Kurt were married at the most fitting of places - a golf course clubhouse in Iowa. It was a small but beautiful celebration that shares the date of Carol’s parent’s wedding anniversary. With Kurt’s son Isaac and daughter Madison and Carol’s sister Pat standing up for them, they were family. Carol and Kurt celebrated their Minnesota wedding reception with family and friends at the B-Dale Club in St. Paul.

Carol enjoyed many years with family and friends at the family cabin near Danbury, WI. But she was happiest when she and Kurt found their little log home in the woods. There they made a cozy home perfectly suited for gardening and a fenced area off the front porch for their dog. Carol had a flair for decorating their home in a woodsy theme with areas dedicated to her collection of copper kitchenware, Iowa Hawkeyes for Kurt and MN Twins for both of them. Among other things in their home, you would see family heirlooms in furniture, decor and Christmas ornaments from childhood, and a table made from signage from Carol’s father-in-law Jim’s dentistry practice. Carol liked twinkling lights; their soft light could be found throughout their home and yard.

Carol and Kurt had a Sunday morning ritual. Kurt went out to get breakfast and a Sunday newspaper. Then they’d work the crossword puzzle together until after a few minutes Carol was done and Kurt was left to happily finish the puzzle.

She enjoyed reading and doing small craft projects, especially ones that she gave as gifts to family and friends. Carol knew her way around a tool box. Having owned her own home, she had plenty of practice fixing, modifying, and building things before she and Kurt started tackling indoor and outdoor projects together. They built raised garden beds and modified the top of a coffee table and sideboard with pennies to tie into her enjoyment of copper. Not surprisingly, they used a modified golf cart for their yard utility vehicle.

Carol was a natural gardener, especially vegetable gardening, and loved sharing the seedlings she started each season. From her harvest, she carried on her folk’s tradition of canning tomato base for making numerous recipes. She was quite a good cook —always searching for and trying new recipes - German potato salad and jambalaya were some of her specialties. She was the family grill master. Every fall Carol and Kurt would spend a weekend making salsa with tomatoes and peppers from their garden. They had it down to a very efficient system.

Carol was an avid fan of the MN Twins, frequently watching their games in their garage TV room and infusing MN Twins in her decor and clothing apparel. Over the years, she had more than one MN Twins bowling ball and headed to warm weather for MN Twins spring training. Off season from baseball, Carol enjoyed watching the MN Wild hockey games.

Carol had a soft heart for dogs. She made homes for several dogs over many years including Rosie, CJ, Molly, Comet and Cheyenne. She was patient and loving with them. They were all very lucky dogs.

Carol started playing softball about age 9 on a team in the neighborhood when they first started allowing little league teams for girls, her sister Nancy coaching her team. After playing softball for years, in the early 1980s, Carol was recruited by her sister Pat to join the Broadway & Seymour softball team and she quickly became one of its key players — equally at home at shortstop, first base, or on the pitcher's mound, wherever the team needed her. The team stayed active year-round, playing summer ball, fall ball, and a full slate of weekend tournaments, with the season's highlights always the Duck Soup Tournament and Winter Carnival Softball on Ice. It was through this team that Carol found a circle of friends who became her friends for life.

The team stayed together long after Broadway & Seymour closed its doors, picking up new sponsors along the way, including the B-Dale Club. Carol became an active member there and served as its President for three years, only the second woman to hold that role. Each year, she and her gang took part in the B-Dale golf tournament, and she and Kurt were fixtures at Bar Bingo.

In this group Carol found others that shared her love of camping. Many weekends she'd hitch up Mabel, her popup trailer, and head out with friends Lynn, Ellen, Cindy, and her dogs for a few days of camp fires and fun. Carol introduced the group to Two Lakes Campground, where she had camped with her own family as a child, and it quickly became a favorite. She often included her godson, Dan in their camping adventures. Mabel was eventually retired in favor of a small RV, and the adventures continued — hiking with the dogs and taking that RV down roads it had no business being on.

Golf was a big part of Carol's life as well. Her natural athleticism showed here too, in a smooth, consistent swing that sent the ball right down the fairway time and again. She kept her cool around the putting green as well. Carol began playing in the Broadway & Seymour league at Como Golf Course more than 30 years ago. Beyond league play, she and her friends golfed nearly every weekend at courses around the cities. For years, the group held standing golf weekends — Peters Sunset Resort each spring and the Cable WI area each fall. On the fall trip, Carol always chose to camp with the hardy ones, and she never came home without a story to tell.

There were annual golf trips each Spring that started with her friend Ellen, driving as far away from snow as they could get in a long weekend. Those golfing road trips eventually became foursomes with friends Lynn and Ric joining. The goal was to play golf in every state. The highlight was a venture to Alaska where Carol, Ellen, Lynn and Ric golfed at midnight.

For many years, Carol bowled in two different leagues - one with many friends from B-Dale; the other a multi-generational league made up of family and friends. But whichever bowling day, you were sure to find a bucket of bottled Miller High Life beer at her table. Following in her parent’s footsteps, Carol had quite her own collection of bowling trophies and plaques for high score and high series. Between working with family at JP, and her bowling and golf leagues, Carol spent a lot of time with family.

In more recent years, Carol spent many happy hours with her sweetie Kurt on their front porch enjoying the wooded view and watching their dog explore and play.

Carol spent her last month in the loving care of the nurses and staff at Our Lady of Peace hospice. Kurt spent all his time by her side, talking with her or watching Minnesota Twins games and Maine Cabin Masters shows together. Carol never lost her sense of humor and dished out plenty of eye-rolls. Carol’s sisters, brothers-in-law, and friends surrounded them with love and support. Their dog, Cheyenne, even made several visits to see Carol at hospice.

We are saddened by Carol’s passing and miss her tremendously, but find joy and comfort knowing that she is with her sister Kathy, her mom and dad, and her beloved dogs from years ago, walking together once again.

Carol is survived by her beloved husband, Kurt; stepchildren Isaac and Madison Percival; sisters, Nancy Pengra, Pat (Jack) Cahoon, Diane (Glen) Kampa & Elaine (Mike) McCauley, along with her godson Dan Cahoon, and many nieces and nephews. She is preceded in death by her parents, Jean and Clayton (Bob) Pengra, sister Kathy, niece Teresa, nephew Bill and Kurt’s parents Jim and Donnabelle (Deb) Percival.

A special thank you to Our Lady of Peace Hospice, and to Carol’s care teams at Allina Healthcare and HealthPartners.

In lieu of flowers, memorials preferred to Our Lady of Peace Hospice and Home Health Care or any organization that loves and cares for dogs as much as Carol did.

memorial service

Carol Percival - Celebration of Life

September 30, 2026

B-Dale Club 2100 Dale St N, Roseville, MN 55113, USA

4:00 - 7:00pm Gathering with appetizers and dessert, cash bar

5:30 - 6:00pm Celebrating Carol - A Life Well Played. Raise a toast and share stories and memories

Funeral/Cremation Provider: Crescent Tide Cremation Services