Kathleen Powlish

Kathleen Ann Powlish passed away from natural causes on March 22nd, 2025, at Essentia Grace Home in Graceville, MN.

A funeral service will be held at St. John's Catholic Church in Rosholt on June 5th at 2:00 p.m.  Visitation will be one hour prior to the service.

Burial will be in the St. Nicholas Cemetery, Rosholt.  Lunch will follow at the church.

Born January 13th, 1943, in Breckenridge, MN to Nick and Evelyn Lick, Kathleen is survived by her only brother Ron (Carole) of Rosholt, SD, sons Philip (Pam) of Brookings, Lee (Susie) of St. James, MN, Glenn (Kim) of Ten Mile, TN, Marty (Tiffany) of Colfax, ND, grandchildren Kalina (Dan) Sternhagen, Erika (Richard) Drawdy, Sam Carlson (fiancé Dayna Comnick), Madison Carlson (fiancé Shawn Hillesheim), Logan Carlson, Lexi Carlson, Kaden Carlson, and great-grandchildren Brody and Alanna Sternhagen, Cooper and Harper Drawdy.

She graduated in 1961 from the MN Agriculture School, worked at a diner in Wheaton, and attended beginning nursing classes at St. Cloud. On September 24th, 1963, she was wed to Norman Carlson, and they were married for 32 years during which time she was devoted and successful as a mother raising four sons and helping on their farm east of Rosholt.

She was remarried to Henry Powlish April 7th, 2000, and they lived in Browns Valley, MN. She entered the Essentia Grace Nursing Home in early 2011 and was the longest resident when she passed.

Her life was her boys. She referenced the challenge of cloth diapers for the first three who arrived within 13 months of each other. There was never a worry about a clean house, clean clothes, or the best home-cooked meals. Her frosted cinnamon rolls for Easter sunrise service were famous. She did not play sports but attended every 80s football and basketball event, adding transportation duties to countless baseball games for any player who climbed in the van. She was a good friend to many and shined her boys up for church every Sunday.

During stretches of her life she battled mental health challenges. Although effective answers for her illness outnumbered the episodes, she always found a way to return home and continue caring for her family. Decades of treatments and prescriptions took their toll and a diagnosis of dementia led to her stay in the nursing home. A reprieve in a sense, previous worries lost their hold even while she was able to always remember her children and their families. The care at Graceville was outstanding and much appreciated and at the close, hospice services were a deep blessing. At the end of her life, neither mental illness nor dementia could stop her from knowing she was cared for and loved deeply.