Caroline Leona Arbogast (nee Kuplicki) died on February 15, 2022. She was 89. Caroline was born on October 9, 1932, in Detroit, Michigan, the daughter of Stanislaus V. Kuplicki and Hedwig (Rotzell) Kuplicki. She attended Madonna College and the University of Detroit, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in education.
While at the University of Detroit, she was a member of the U of D Players theatrical group. It was there that she met her husband, John H. Arbogast; they married on June 26, 1954. They lived in Detroit and were active members of Gesu Catholic Church, where Caroline became the parish’s first woman lector and Extraordinary Minister of the Eucharist. They hosted Mass in their home every other week for friends and neighbors. They served as foster parents for many babies through the years. In 1976, they moved to Chelsea, Michigan. In Chelsea, Caroline was active in St. Mary Catholic Church – again serving as the parish’s first woman lector and Extraordinary Minister of the Eucharist. She also sang in the choir for many years.
Throughout her life, Caroline was an active volunteer. Her many activities included participating in her church’s marriage preparation program for engaged couples; volunteering at Chelsea Hospital; conducting Communion services as part of the prison ministry program at Michigan State Prison in Jackson, Michigan and other correctional facilities; and conducting baptism classes at St. Mary Catholic Church. Her faith was strong, and she believed in living her faith through service to others.
Caroline loved her grandchildren and was overjoyed each time a new baby arrived. Through the years, she enjoyed watching them grow up, attending their various milestone events, and their visits and calls. She was a generous, fun-loving grandmother — “Mimi” to her grandchildren. She kept a fully stocked candy drawer, to which they were given full access during their visits. She had a heart for animals, particularly dogs; she couldn’t resist feeding them treats, and it wasn’t uncommon for her to wrap a dog in an afghan as it napped on the couch. She enjoyed feeding the birds and watching the wildlife that surrounded her home, especially the numerous deer and, one season, a family of foxes that lived in her yard. She was known as an outstanding hostess; she enjoyed entertaining and made everyone feel welcome and nurtured in her home, laying in supplies of each person’s favorite things before they arrived. She had an infectious sense of humor and laughed the hardest when she was telling a self-deprecating story about herself – a baking or cooking mistake, an embarrassing moment. She played bridge in several leagues over the years and loved going to water aerobics with her friends.
Caroline was preceded in death by her husband; their son, John Arbogast; her parents; and her siblings, Eleanor Schultz, Martha Kuplicki, Stanley Kuplicki and Florence Ziarnik.
She is survived by her daughters, Marianne Arbogast, Suzanne D’Itri (Michael), Elizabeth Wolfe (Michael), Celeste Bock (David), and Christine Arbogast; her grandchildren, Jason D’Itri (Brittany), Jessica D’Itri (Eric), Alexandra Bragorgos (Ethan), Philip Arbogast-Wilson (Kaila), Paris Bragorgos, Daniel Barr, Steven Grant Bragorgos, Anna Caroline Barr, and Mariel Harbor (Abby).
A funeral Mass will be said at St. Mary Catholic Church in Chelsea, Michigan on Monday, February 21, 2022 at 11:00 a.m. Guests may greet the family and pay their respects at a visitation at the church before Mass, beginning at 10 a.m. Interment will be held at Mt. Olivet Cemetery with a funeral lunch for all attendees to follow.
Arrangements by Staffan-Mitchell Funeral Home, Chelsea.
