09/04/2025
In Loving Memory of Carol Theis
With heartfelt appreciation and great admiration, we honor the memory of Carol Theis, a founding director and cornerstone of East Central Dollars for Scholars. Carol’s passion for education and unwavering dedication to students shaped the very foundation of our organization.
After graduating from Hamline University in 1953, Carol began her career as an English teacher at Askov High School. Even today, countless former students fondly recall how she taught them the power of writing. Education was central to Carol’s life; she even married a fellow educator. Together, she and her husband, Roland “Bud” Theis, who served as superintendent in Finlayson and Askov, devoted their lives to helping students succeed. In Bud’s memory, Carol established the Roland Theis Scholarship, one of our longest-running scholarships, which has supported graduating seniors for more than 30 years.
Carol understood firsthand the hard work it takes to pursue an education. She earned her Master’s in Library Science and served as the high school librarian until her retirement in 1993. Even after retiring, Carol’s commitment never wavered. She helped establish a permanent Dollars for Scholars fund designed to grow year after year, ensuring that future students in our school district would always have access to scholarship opportunities. Carol served faithfully on the board for decades, retiring only three years ago.
Just last year, Carol approached the board with the desire to increase her scholarship amount to $8,000, a reflection of her continued generosity and vision. She once recalled that the organization’s early goal was to reach $100,000 in the scholarship fund, a monetary goal that once felt impossibly high. Yet thanks to her persistence and leadership, that original goal has been surpassed many times over.
We will forever be grateful for Carol’s vision, her generosity, and her unwavering commitment to education. Her legacy lives on in the countless students whose lives she touched, and will continue to do so in the future scholars who will benefit from her enduring gift.
Thank you, Carol, for everything. You will be deeply missed, but never forgotten.
https://www.methvenfuneralhome.com/obituary/carol-theis
