Gary Carlin

Gary Carlin, longtime businessman and funeral director from Fosston, MN passed away peacefully on Saturday, September 19th at the age of 85 at Essentia Health First Care Living Center in Fosston. A private family funeral service will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, September 26th at Hope Lutheran Church in Fosston with the Rev. Jane Ekholm officiating. Interment and a graveside service will be held immediately following the funeral service (at approximately Noon) at Hope Lutheran Cemetery in Fosston. All are welcome to attend the graveside service. Standard Covid-19 precautions will be observed and please bring your own chair if planning to attend the graveside service.Visitation will be held from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Friday, September 25th, at the Carlin Funeral Home in Fosston. All are welcome to attend the visitation, however it will be a "walk-through" visitation as numbers inside the funeral home will be restricted due to health regulations and masks are required at all services. In addition, the funeral and graveside service will be recorded and available for viewing on Sunday on the Carlin Funeral Home website.Arrangements are with Carlin Family Funeral Service of Fosston and condolences may be shared at www.carlinfuneral.com. Gary Hildahl Carlin was born on July 25, 1935 the first of three sons to Hilding and Alice (Hildahl) Carlin in Fosston, MN where he grew up and graduated from Fosston High School with the Class of 1953. He attended Concordia College in Moorhead, MN for one year then went on to the University of Minnesota where he attained his Mortuary Science Degree before returning to Fosston to go to work for his father in the furniture and appliance business and the funeral home business.He was blessed because a young, beautiful lady named Berniece Brekke from Edmore, ND took a physical education teaching job in Fosston in 1955. Gary and Berniece were married on April 14, 1957 at Concordia Lutheran Church in Edmore and celebrated 63 years of marriage this year. Gary worked with his father in business at the Carlin Furniture Store and Carlin Funeral Home in Fosston and the Carlin Funeral Home in Erskine, MN until 1974. At that time, Hilding retired and Gary's brother Mark returned to Fosston to join together in buying out their father's businesses. Gary and Mark progressively operated the Carlin Furniture Store and the Carlin Funeral Homes for many years. In 1976, they built a large addition to the furniture store building expanding their retail floor space. In 1985, they built a large addition to their funeral home building in Fosston. In 1989, they bought out the Pederson-Hoialmen Funeral Home in Fosston and the Reese-Hoialmen Funeral Home in McIntosh, MN. And in 1995, they built a new funeral home chapel to replace the old chapel in Erskine. Together Gary and Mark served these communities and the surrounding area for many years with great pride. Along the way, they were joined by Doug Hoialmen, Gary's son, John, and Mark's son, Tim, working at the funeral homes. In 1996, Gary bought out his brother, Mark and in 1997, Gary "retired" and sold the funeral home business to John and Tim. Although Gary officially retired in 1997, he never quit working in the funeral business. He is still a licensed mortician in Minnesota to this day and never turned down an opportunity to help out at the funeral home.During his retirement years Gary and Berniece traveled south for winter vacations and loved spending the summer at their cabin on Bemidji Lake. Many hours were spent driving the boat, pulling the grandkids tubing and waterskiing. Gary was a dedicated Christian and was dedicated to his wife, his family, especially his grandchildren; his church; service to others; local church, school, and community events; and local sports. Gary and Berniece have traveled tens of thousands of miles and attended thousands of games played by their children and grandchildren over the years, rarely missing an event from grade school games to Big Ten Basketball games.He was a lifetime member, past president, and member of the choir at Hope Lutheran Church in Fosston where his grandfather, Rev. K.O. Hildahl, had been Pastor for 28 years. He served 20 years on the Fosston Volunteer Fire Department. Gary was a member of the Fosston Community Club, Fosston Rotary Club, served on the Fosston City Council, and had been given the Fosston Service Award. In his high school years Gary was very involved in football, basketball, baseball, Boy Scouts, and was an exceptional trombone player in the band and throughout his entire life. He also loved golf and played a part with the original founders of the Fosston Golf Course.Many remember Gary as a survivor. He overcame and survived five different types of cancers, some of them several times over the last forty years, beginning with cancer in 1980 when he endured a major abdominal surgery and extremely harsh chemotherapy. Despite all the cancers and the treatments and the worries he rarely complained. He always came back and thrived. In the end it turned out to be something neither he nor his family saw coming. An unforgiving disease called Lewy Body Dementia. A disease you can't fight and can't beat because there is no cure. Gary will be deeply missed by his family and those who knew him. He loved to laugh and play practical jokes on any unsuspecting person he could, especially his family members and Berniece.On Saturday, September 19, 2020 Gary passed away peacefully after a difficult and courageous summer long battle with health issues at Essentia Health First Care Living Center in Fosston at the age of 85 years.Survivors include his wife Berniece of Fosston; three children, Kim (Mike) Roysland, John (Cathy) and Jeff (Jackie) all of Fosston; foreign exchange student son, Jean-Luc (Isabelle) Hofman of Belgium; seven grandchildren, Kelly (Eric) Curry, Josh Roysland, Garrett (Emily) Carlin, Seth (Kylee) Carlin, Kailey Carlin (special friend Kory), Kelsey Carlin (fiancé Kaven), and Jaime Carlin; two great grandchildren, Brekken Curry and Hayes Curry; brother-in-law, Bud (Joan) Brekke of Devils Lake, ND; sisters-in-law, Ida Carlin of San Francisco, CA and Barbara Carlin of Fosston; and many nieces, nephews and cousins.He was preceded in death by his parents; two brothers, David and Mark; and father-in-law and mother-in-law, Carl and Margaret Brekke; as well as many other family members.