Carole A. Lochmiller, 77, of Spirit Lake passed away on Monday, January 2, 2023, at Accura Healthcare of Spirit Lake.
Services for Carole are pending at this time with the Robinson Funeral Home in Spirit Lake, formerly the Schuchert-Lentz Funeral Home. Online condolences may be left at www.spiritlakefuneralhome.com
Carole Ann Lochmiller was born on February 8, 1945, to Denzil and Dorothy (Knorr) Cunningham in Greenfield, Iowa at the Hohertz Nursing Home. Her mother passed away when Carole was just 16 months old. Her grandparents helped her father care for her until Denzil was united in marriage to Frances Rasmussen in September of 1947. Carole attended Greenfield Schools, graduating with the class of 1963. She attended Northwest Missouri State College for a year and a half. She then attended and graduated from the Iowa School of Beauty in Des Moines, IA in 1965 and worked as a beautician for several years in Des Moines.
In August of 1967, she was united in marriage to Alan Lochmiller. They made their home in Des Moines, IA; Wichita, KS; Oakwood, IL; and Bushnell, IL; before divorcing. During that time Carole volunteered as a Girl Scout Leader, was a member of PEO, TOPS, and served a very active role in “Beautify Bushnell” helping with many tree planting and landscaping projects. She worked at Hart Nursery in Bushnell before moving in 2001 with her dog to a house in Spirit Lake. Her favorite lake in the Iowa Great Lakes was Big Spirt where she spent many evenings at the spillway area with her dog.
Carole loved dogs and throughout her life always had a pet dog. She liked perennial flowers and planted many at her homes in Bushnell and Spirit Lake. In Spirit Lake she worked at Ferguson’s Nursery. She was very knowledgeable about plants, landscaping, and birds and presented programs on those subjects for many groups in the Spirit Lake area. She was an avid bird watcher and feeder and shared her knowledge about birds with many. Her favorite bird was the cardinal. Following that passion in 2010, she helped found and open Bird Haven, a bird feeding and bird accessories store. She continued to work at Bird Haven until her health no longer allowed her to do so. She moved into the Accura Nursing Home in 2019.
She was preceded in death by her parents, her stepmother, and her nephew Greg Wallace.
Carole is survived by her sister Jenice (Doug) Wallace, one niece Gina (Bob) School and their two children RJ and Violet, other relatives and friends.

http://www.spiritlakefuneralhome.com