Carsten Andrew Thuesen

Carsten Andrew Thuesen, 85, of Tega Cay, South Carolina, and Urbandale, Iowa, went to be with his lord and savior on December 3, 2025.

Born May 2, 1940, in Stanford, NY, to the late Ellen Madsen Thuesen and Carlo Thuesen, he grew up on Juniper Ledge Farm near Millwood, NY, and graduated from Horace Greeley High School.

Carsten and Marie DeGrace blended their families when they were married in 1977. Carsten worked at Reader's Digest magazine and owned a dog-grooming business for many years. He loved dogs and had had an opportunity to show dogs for American Kennel Club (AKC) for years. He was a hard worker and often worked two jobs to support his young family.

In 1988 Carsten and Marie moved to South Carolina, where Carsten earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in substance abuse. He worked as a counselor with North Carolina Physicians Health Program.

When their children were younger, Carsten and Marie took a particularly memorable road trip across the country: 5 kids, in a station wagon and pop-up camper, eating lots of PB&J sandwiches! Upon retirement, they enjoyed traveling together to many places, from Alaska to Denmark. But even with all the beautiful, interesting places traveled, his favorite place to be was in their home on Lake Wylie, SC, with his dog, Moses. He loved boating, water skiing and teaching others to water ski. He also loved to meet his best friend, Mike, for coffee at The Peach Stand, and Saturday visits with good friend Tim.

Carsten was involved in several ministries over the years, including prison ministry, Recovery Church in Charlotte, NC, and AA. He helped hundreds of people and families understand and deal with addiction. Most important to Carsten was helping others and telling them about Jesus Christ and how Jesus saved him.

Carsten leaves a legacy to be cherished by his survivors: his beloved wife of 48 years, Marie, of Tega Cay and Urbandale; sons Keith (Diane) Thuesen of Sherman, CT, and Kent (Stefanie) Thuesen of New Fairfield, CT; daughters Kim (Bill) Stonebridge of Ridgefield, CT, and Christy (Kevin) Marshall of Urbandale, IA; sister Linda Thuesen and husband Ray Omerod of Somers, NY; grandchildren Justin, Jake, Samantha, Cody, Morgan, Kaitlin, Jacob, Hannah, Jack and Zachary; and niece Dawn Marie Soliman. He is also survived by other beloved family members, including John (Lisa) DeGrace, Barbara Smith, Antonette (Ron) Slepian and their children Deni and Owen, and his childhood friend Curt Rozenkranz. Carsten was loved by many and will be greatly missed.

A celebration of life service will be held at Palmetto Funeral Home, 2049 Carolina Place Drive in Fort Mill, SC, on December 14 at 2 p.m., with a reception to follow.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Alcoholics Anonymous District 21 in SC, or St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.