Our sweet Carol passed peacefully after her long, brave battle with leukemia, just a few days before her 82nd birthday.

Carol was born in Pawhuska, Okla. She was a class of 1949 graduate from Central High School in Oklahoma City, and received her registered nurse diploma from University Hospital School of Nursing in 1952.

She practiced nursing for nearly five decades, taking great pride in her profession. Over the course of her life she used her training and skills in a variety of medical settings before retiring to enjoy time with her grandchildren and friends.

Her move in 1988 from her Midwestern roots to South Whidbey began as a temporary one to help with her first grandchild. The community and climate came to suit her, and she made Freeland her home for nearly three decades, longer than she had ever lived anywhere. She was a cheerful, if somewhat eccentric fixture in her Beverly Beach community and deeply valued the friendships there.

Though her last transitional years found her with family in New Mexico, and then in California, her life and friends on South Whidbey never left her heart or memory.

She was a “southern lady” who enjoyed cooking and baking for others, and would never go to a potluck empty-handed. She loved a good road trip, and once remarked that one benefit of her family being so far away was she could travel to see them.

Carol was a good friend to many, and could be counted on to offer limitless energy and moral support to her family and friends in time of need. She cultivated and maintained life-long friendships. She enjoyed the company of dogs, and always had a biscuit handy for visiting four-legged friends.

Carol had a passionate commitment to literacy, supporting it in her own children from the time they were small. Prior to the onset of her illness, she had plans to become a volunteer literacy coach.

She became a voracious reader in her last year, when her health precluded much activity, and she read several novels weekly.

She returned to some of the doctrine in her Baptist upbringing in her last year, and expressed her strong belief that loved ones who preceded her in death were waiting to welcome her, particularly her beloved mother, Rubeth, her much-adored brother Clayton and sister in-law Marcella, and her high-school sweetheart and the love of her life, Bob Wilson.

Carol kept her good spirit and positive attitude throughout her last, most difficult weeks.

Her light will still shine brightly in those she leaves behind. She will be greatly missed by the family she loved very much: daughters Donna Beth, Sharon, Linda and husband Carlos; niece Martha Jean and husband Bill, and nephew Miles Steven and wife Kathy Jo, and their families; grandchildren Amelia and husband Jon, Caitlin, Connor and Indigo; great-granddaughter Anabelle, who came to know and love her “Mama Carol” well, and baby great-grandson Jon Alan; and by her many friends of all ages and paths.

She leaves to us all a large legacy of smiles and laughter, and the importance of family and friends.

Arrangements have been taken care of by the Neptune Society. Carol requested no services, and asked that her family and friends remember her each in his or her own way.

A memorial is planned for next year. Carol wished to be remembered for her love of books and dogs with donations to the Freeland Library or to the Whidbey Animal Improvement Foundation (WAIF).