Harriet Alice (Day) Carlson June 5, 1933 - July 7, 2026. The fifth of fourteen children, Harriet was born to Earl and Janet Day, moments before her twin, Harold. It was a very busy home.  By her own account, Harriet lived a long and happy life. She was a nanny for two years as a teenager, a waitress at Hart’s Cafe in Wayzata, a clerk at a Minneapolis Jeweler, and finally, a bookkeeper / receptionist for her family’s business, Earl W Day and Sons Plumbing & Heating until her retirement in 1996.  On August 24, 1957, Harriet married Kenneth Carlson at Wayzata Community Church where she was a lifelong member. Ken fondly boasted he married a "real hardworking, plains-woman." They made their home on Linner Road in Wayzata, raising 4 children surrounded by 10 acres, gardening in the summer (yielding much produce), enjoying daily coffee parties with grandparents up the hill. Harriet cared for the people she loved with profound and unwavering devotion. She was, in every sense, a caretaker’s caretaker. After Ken’s passing in 2006, she enjoyed caring for her yard, garden, and even snow-blowing,well into her 80s. She compiled an extensive Day family genealogy with her love of researching family history and was a featured speaker at the Wayzata Historical Society. 

She is preceded in death by her husband Kenneth; parents Earl and Janet; and siblings John, Bruce, Margaret (Lessard), Lowell, Lyle, Douglas, Harold, Marian (Bowser), Dennis, Doris (O’Neill), James. Survived by siblings Jane (Freund) and William; children, Rene Dodson (Bruce), Greg (Wendy), Jerry (Sonja), Brian (Beth); grandchildren: Graham Dodson, Lauren Degeer (Dave), Taylor Dodson (Chelsea), Shannon Erlander (Sam), Jason Carlson, Sam Carlson, Alissa Frazzini (Bob), Corey Carlson; great-grandchildren: Brooklyn, Austin and Charlotte Degeer & Sloane Erlander. 

A celebration of Harriet’s life will occur on July 30 at 1pm at Wayzata Community Church Chapel with reception immediately following in the Colonnade Private interment at Summit Park Cemetery, Wayzata
In lieu of flowers, please donate to the Wayzata Community Church or Wayzata Historical Society in honor of Harriet.