Carol Louise Hauser was born on Sept. 7, 1925 in Mitchell to Adam K and Zelma A (Hunter) Bates.  She grew up on the family dairy farm and delivered milk to a Mitchell route throughout her high school and some college years.  She earned her RN-BS degree from Dakota Wesleyan University in 1948.  Carol married her husband of forty-seven years, Victor, in 1947, and began her nursing career at Methodist Hospital in Mitchell. Later she spent several years as the Davison County Health Nurse.  After retiring from nursing, Carol, along with her husband, owned a popular local nightclub business as well as several home rental properties in the Mitchell area.

Carol was a member of Holy Family Catholic Church, the VFW Women's Auxiliary and the Methodist Nurses Alumni Association.  Carol was also a volunteer for the Hospice Program in Mitchell.

During her life, not only did Carol enjoy traveling with her husband and friends, tending her garden, crocheting, and working sudoko puzzles, Carol got the most enjoyment from spending time with her family.

She is survived by her sons, Ronald, and his wife, Lisa, of Sacramento, CA; Kenneth and his wife, Gloria, of Black Hawk, SD; and Michael and his wife, Jeanne, of Mitchell, SD; and her daughters, Connie Levell and her husband, John, of Lanesboro, MN; and Vicki Feddersen and her husband, Steven, of Newcastle, WY; eighteen grandchildren and twenty-one great-grandchildren.

She is preceded in death by her husband, Victor, and brother, Royce Ardell Bates.