Sharon A. Illetschko

Sharon A. Illetschko, age 80, of Carlos, died suddenly on Friday, May 19, 2023, at St. Cloud Hospital.

Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11 a.m., Wednesday, May 24, 2023, at St. Nicholas Catholic Church in Belle River with Fr. Mark Botzet officiating. Music is provided by the church choir. Interment will take place at the church cemetery.

Visitation is 5-7 p.m., with a 6:15 p.m. rosary followed by a prayer service, on Tuesday, May 23, at Lind Family Funeral Home in Alexandria. The visitation will continue one hour prior to the service at the church.

Sharon Ann was born on March 13, 1943, to Leon and Rosella (Drexler) Feda in Carlos. She attended school in a two-room schoolhouse in Carlos for her elementary years. She graduated from Jefferson High School in Alexandria in 1961. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education from St. Cloud State College in 1964 and her master’s degree from the University of Minnesota Morris in 1990. Sharon taught fourth grade in Hoffman for 2 ½ years and finished her teaching career in Brandon where she taught 5^th and/or 6^th grades and was selected as Brandon’s Teacher of the Year by her peers twice. She retired from teaching in 1999.

Sharon was united in marriage to Thomas Illetschko in 1963. They lived and farmed in Carlos from 1969 until the present. They were blessed with one daughter, Janice, born in 1967.

Sharon loved to travel, which she did extensively during the decade of the 90’s. Her many experiences included learning how to snorkel in Saipan, sitting on the pyramid rocks in Egypt, discovering the ruins in Pompeii, Italy, exploring Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, attending the Passion Play at Oberammergau, Germany, and sightseeing in western Europe from Ireland to Greece and Turkey.

Sharon loved to read and sew, and she especially liked piecing quilts for her family. She volunteered at the local school, she co-organized and directed the Carlos Senior Citizen’s club, she has served on the St. Nicholas Church Council as well as Carlos City Council, and on St. Ann’s Sodality for women of the parish. She donated her time and efforts to making quilts for baptism and confirmation recipients of the church.

She was preceded in death by her parents.

Sharon is survived by her husband of 59 years, Tom; daughter, Janice (Brian) Doucette of Carlos; two grandchildren, Jon (Mercedes) Doucette and Maria Doucette; and great-grandson, Henry Doucette.

Pallbearers are Rick Hauer, Joe Korkowski, Bruce Botzet, Maria Doucette, Jon Doucette, and Mercedes Doucette. Honorary pallbearers are Henry Doucette and the retired teachers from Brandon Public Schools.