Carol E. (Pieper) Ryan

Carol Elizabeth (Pieper) Ryan

February 16, 1936 – April 14, 2024

Carol Elizabeth (Pieper) Ryan, 88, passed away on Sunday, April 14, 2024, at Cedarhurst Memory Care in La Vista, NE.

Carol was born on February 16, 1936, in Covington, KY, the fourth child of Charles and Anna (Frey) Pieper. Following high school and secretarial school, she went to work in the ticket office of the Pennsylvania Railroad in Cincinnati, OH. There she met the love of her life, John. They married on May 30, 1959, and shared almost 51 years together. John’s job transfers took the family from Cincinnati to Indiana to Florida and finally to Omaha in 1972, but a piece of her heart always remained in Kentucky. During her children’s teen years, Carol returned to the workforce working as an executive secretary in the human resource department at Pamida’s headquarters.

A daughter, a son and then a surprise…twin daughters kept Carol very busy. She was a devoted mom, wife, and homemaker. She loved being a grandma or “Nanny” to her four grandchildren and was thrilled when her great-grandchildren began arriving. Carol suffered the unthinkable loss of half her family in less than five years. Her daughter, Jacquie, passed away in 2008, her husband, John, in 2010 and her son, Kevin, in 2013.

Carol’s hands were never still until the disease stole her talents. She was proficient in her typing and shorthand skills, still using shorthand into her 80s. Carol loved to sew and do all the latest crafts, counted cross-stitch being one of her favorites. She was a highly organized woman. Everything had a place with identifying labels. She will be remembered by her family for many reasons, but her banana bread and streusel cakes were favorites of all.

Carol was preceded in death by her husband, John; son, Kevin; daughter, Jacquie Franklin; brother, Charles Pieper; and sister, Charlotte Kowalik.
She is survived by her daughters and sons-in-law, Colleen and Bill German and Tammy and Alan Eastlund; son-in-law, Mike Franklin; sister, Sr. Emmanuel Pieper, OSB; grandchildren, Mandy (Mark) Farrage, Mike German, Lexi (Rick) Hillstrom and Ryan (Claire) Franklin; and ten great-grandchildren with another on the way.

Private Family Services.