Penelope "Penny" Ann Carlson

Penelope “Penny” Ann Carlson, 66, formerly of Orion and Lynn Center, passed away, January 19, 2024, at Emerald Groves Central in Mesa, AZ.  

Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, January 27, 2024, at St. Paul Lutheran Church, Orion, IL.  Visitation will be from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Friday, January 26, 2024, at the Ark at St. Paul Lutheran Church.  Interment will be at Western Township Cemetery, Orion, IL. Esterdahl Mortuary and Crematory, Ltd., Orion, is assisting the family. Memorials may be made to St. Paul Lutheran Church or Shriners Hospital.  

Penny was born on May 4, 1957, in Moline, IL, daughter of B. Thomas and Gloria (Barbee) Staley. She was united in marriage to La Verne A. Carlson at the Broadway Presbyterian Church in Rock Island, IL on July 27, 1985. She retired from teaching in the Orion School District in December of 2010.

Penny was an elementary school teacher for 30 years in Orion, prior she was a substitute teacher in Sherrard and Colona. She was a loyal member of St. Paul Lutheran Church, being part of the Handbell Choir and the Altar Guild. She was also a member of the Daughters of the Nile, and the Orion Lions. Penny volunteered for the Dresses for Orphans in Mesa, AZ. She and her husband hosted five foreign exchange students (from Germany, Norway, Finland, and Poland) in their Lynn Center, IL home.

Survivors include her husband, La Verne Carlson; brother Robert L. Staley and sister-in-law Janet Staley of Blue Grass; sister Linda Kostrowski and brother-in-law Ed Kostrowski of Chatham, NJ; sister-in-law Joyce Hepner and brother-in-law Rick Hepner of Orion, IL; 5 nieces and 2 nephews.

She was preceded in death by her parents.

Memories may be shared online by visiting esterdahl.com.