In 2004 Carol purchased a house in Strawberry, Arizona, fully intending to retire there. However, plans changed and she decided to enter seminary and become a pastor with the ELCA. She attended Wartburg Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa where she received a master's degree.
She was ordained on April 17, 2010.  She served in the Grand Canyon Synod prior to going to  the Pacifica Synod in late 2014. While in Pacifica, Pastor Carol served as Associate Pastor at Clairemont Lutheran in San Diego, Pastor at Lord of Life Lutheran in Moreno Valley and as a Bridge Pastor at Gethsemane Lutheran in San Diego prior to her retirement in March of 2019.
All who walked with Pastor Carol over these past few months of her life have been touched by her courage and faithful witness.

I will now share the eulogy given at her Celebration of Life on November 2, 2019, just one day before what would have been her 77th birthday.

There is no answer to death but to live and to live vigorously and beautifully. We give respect and dignity to the one we mourn, only when we respect and dignify life, and when we live life to the fullest. The best of all answers to death is the continuing affirmation of life. Now, for us, the living, may the love of friends, the joy of memories, and our hopes for the future give us strength and peace that we may go forward together.

Carol loved life and lived it to the fullest. Anyone who sat with her for any length of time knew this, and enjoyed her many humorous stories. I often told her she should write a book because the stories were so funny and that people would enjoy them. But she had already published one book, and felt that publishing another would just be too much trouble.

Carol lived a most interesting life, having worked for AT&T in Phoenix for several years before the big breakup, crawling in attics, and climbing telephone poles!

She traveled the country as a lecturer, and belonged to several woodworking forums online which she regularly participated in.

Carol taught woodworking classes at Palomar College in San Diego County. She loved helping students achieve their dreams.

She had a pilot’s license and, with a dear friend, owned an airplane which she loved to fly.

She also owned and rode a motorcycle, and was still riding it when I met her. However, there came that point in time where she realized she just wasn’t strong enough to continue riding it. She knew that if it fell over, there would be no way she would ever get it up again. I know what a difficult decision it was for her to sell it.

Carol has an amazing sense of humor, and a great command of the language. She kept that sense of humor right up until the end.

In 2004 she purchased a house in Strawberry, Arizona, fully intending to retire there. However, plans changed and she decided to enter seminary and become a pastor with the ELCA. She attended Wartburg Theological Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa where she received a master's degree in 2009.

Her first assignments after graduation were through the Grand Canyon Synod:

I first met Carol in the fall of 2011 when she was sent by the Grand Canyon Synod to Pahrump, Nevada to serve as Interim Pastor for Saved by Grace Lutheran Church and where I was the resident musician and choir director.

In the fall of 2012 when I returned from summer vacation, Carol told me that she had decided to sell her house in Strawberry because she was going to be pastoring in different places and felt it would not serve her to keep the house. Later that year my husband and I purchased her Strawberry house. She visited us in Strawberry on several occasions, as she truly loved the beauty of the Rim Country.

In late 2014 Carol moved to California and into the Pacifica Synod. While in Pacifica, Pastor Carol served as Associate Pastor at Clairemont Lutheran in San Diego, Pastor at Lord of Life Lutheran in Moreno Valley, and as a Bridge Pastor at Gethsemane Lutheran in San Diego prior to her retirement in March of 2019.

On June 10, 2016 Carol adopted Tinker Bell, a rescued Chihuahua/terrier mix that had been found running around loose. Her facebook post said this:

New associate in ministry in charge of visitation. Also Therapy Dog in training to lower blood pressure, and be on alert for low blood sugar. Also Director of my personal fitness plan to keep me walking. As of 9 AM this morning. Meet Tinker Bell.

In the fall of that year Carol told me about a doctor she had been seeing in Oceanside whose protocol had helped her neuropathy immensely. I then decided to also work with that doctor, and she invited me to stay with her when I traveled there for treatments 3 days a week. I became acquainted with Ms. Tinker Bell, and the three of us had a great time together during the next 6 months.

However, in April 2017 Carol began having respiratory issues and it was suggested to remove all sources of possible allergens. She asked me and my husband to make a new home for Tinker Bell as she was already acquainted with us. She was rehomed with us in Pahrump, and we have enjoyed her company ever since. She is a fireball. Carol missed her immensely.

Carol often told me that she was not a sentimental person; however, after going through much of her personal effects, I would tend to disagree with her. She had many quilts and lap quilts, among other things, and hundreds of greeting cards that she had received and kept over the years.

I also found a great deal of jewelry, mostly crosses and other church related images, which were gifts over the years of her ministry and perhaps before, and which are on display here today. I invite you to take one to keep as a remembrance of Carol.

I felt very privileged to have been the person she called for support the last two times she was hospitalized. Near the end of March of this year, just after retiring, she ended up in the hospital in respiratory failure brought on by diminished kidney function. I went to California, took her home from the hospital, and supervised the remainder of the packing for her move to Coolidge, Arizona.

We had three wonderful guys who helped with the packing up of two 24 foot trailers and a 16 foot trailer. We also loaded to the ceilings Carol’s car and my car. On the morning we were to leave Escondido, the guy who was to drive her truck and tow her car woke up with pneumonia and couldn’t drive.

Carol drove the truck towing the car and I drove my car, following her. We took rest breaks as she needed them, finally arriving in Casa Grande near dark. We decided to get a hotel, as there was no furniture in the house, and then continued the drive to Coolidge the next morning. The three trailers were delivered over the course of the next week.

She graciously named the second bedroom in her new house “Marilyn’s Room.”

I stayed with her until April 14th, at which time I felt like she was stable enough to be on her own, and I returned home to Pahrump.

We had gone shopping a few times while I was there, and I finally convinced her that she should use an electric cart available at most stores.

Shortly after I left in April she posted this on facebook:

An observation or three: I can no longer traipse all over a grocery store so I have resorted to using the electric cart.
1. Have a 'tow' number for carts that die in some aisle. I feel silly asking everyone for some help.
2. Stacked glass jars are interesting when you try to put only one in your cart from a sitting position.
3. I endeavor not to hit anything or anybody. Most carts so far move at a slow pace. However, the one this morning seems to have come from Indianapolis! And me with no helmet or crash bar!
4. No, the angle of the card reader does not accommodate one who is seated.
5. People who text are likely to get knocked down.
6. There is a backup beeper but no rear view mirror. Crazy.
7. Walkers who cut me off are dependent on two things; that I see them and that the cart stops in time. No promises.
8. Meat and deli counters give an unobstructed view of their contents. However, I can't see the clerk. It’s just a disembodied voice. Weird.

I truly hope this is a temporary situation and I'll regain strength and endurance in my legs. Meanwhile, life takes on interesting parameters.

Cindy Jones, I empathize. But I can still walk short distances.

And then there was Home Depot!

June 17th was the date the building of her new shop at the Coolidge house began. She was SO excited. Her facebook post that day said:

And so it begins. Fifteen years ago I dismantled my shop and put everything into storage to move to Arizona. God put a left turn in my adventure and I found myself in seminary on the way to ordained ministry. Whoda thunk! Ten years later I retired and moved to Arizona. Today four guys arrived from Tuff Shed and a new shop is rising from the sand in my backyard. Today the walls. Tomorrow the rest.

One of the changes she planned for her new Coolidge house was to take out the dining room window and put in French doors. She had found a perfect pair on Craig’s List, so on June 23rd she got in her truck and drove to north Phoenix to pick them up. Upon arriving there, she was in severe respiratory distress, and not even able to get out of her truck or talk. She called 911 from her truck, they arrived, and took her to the hospital. One of them drove her truck to the hospital.

She called me shortly after arriving, so I packed my bags and headed to Phoenix, arriving around 10pm. Over the next three days, and after talking with several doctors and studying carefully all the pros and cons of dialysis, she decided that was not the path she wanted to travel, so she was released from the hospital to hospice care on June 26th.

As we were leaving the hospital, she asked the hospice person “What can I eat?” She answered, “At this point, eat whatever you want!” Carol looked at me with that twinkle in her eye and said “Where’s the nearest In ‘N Out?” So that’s where we went!

Her facebook post later that day said:

Home from the hospital

Dodged the bullet once again - but those days are numbered. Acute respiratory failure as the result of total renal failure. The long and short of it is that the toxins are building in my body. That will kill me.

All my final plans are almost in order. My thanks to Don Baer for ferrying my truck home from the hospital. I want to introduce Marilyn Tenny to you. She is a sainted best friend and she will log on to my account and let you know when the end has arrived.

Don't be sad. Nobody gets out of this life alive. I have the privilege of planning my exit. Someone else will get to enjoy that new building in my back yard. But then whenever I have made plans, God found a way to change them, so anything is still possible. For now I am released to home with hospice. As things change and as I am able I will keep you all abreast of what is going on.

Meantime, put some BBQ in the smoker, pop a cold one and have a toast on me.

One of her goals after release from the hospital was to write her own eulogy before she passed. However, the brain fog was a real problem and she was not able to put her thoughts into a document on her computer.

I would like to share her subsequent posts on facebook, as I know some of you do not have computer access and were unable to read her comments. Her sense of humor was still shining through!

July 2nd

Good morning, all. First, I am completely blown away by the humbling comments you have been making. I've gotten email, messenger, and snail mail as well. People have come to visit. The question, though not always directly asked, is, 'How am I doing?' The answer is that it varies widely from day to day. I am still at peace with the events. I just pray that this doesn't become [is] ugly and sick. But it appears I have little control. The hospice people are amazing. Not to mention my dear friend, Marilyn. I continue to covet your prayers, especially to slip quietly without barfing, and pain. Thus far the drugs are good. Though last night was wretched. Thank you so much for all the kind comments. Sorry it takes an event like this for us to utter them. I will try to post but may get to the point where that is not possible.

July 11th

I want to thank all of you for our continued prayers. I can't respond to them all so please accept the update. It’s hard to answer the question of how things are going. I don't have any [thing] idea how they should go. Today was a super special day. I got a shower today. Doesn't sound like much until you can't do that by yourself any more. Feels marvelous. Strength continues to diminish and it becomes more strenuous to try to get around. I am blessed with caring helpers. Again thank you for your prayers. I can only imagine how much worse this could be without them.

The house is turning into a jungle gym. There are bars in [the] bathroom, swing above the bed, and an airline trailing my walker. In case you were wondered what a day is like. The leg muscles are too sore to support me without help. Something about toxins in the tissue. Breathing is hard as water builds up in my lungs. So far, going on oxygen has relieved that. But that dries out the throat. No point in any dietary restrictions any longer, but food does not interest me. But I need to take in food to handle the meds. Not complaining just explaining. The worst part is the not knowing. Am I feeling worse or better? Than what?

I am grateful for all the support. I love the cards. I got to thinking about how to buy a get well card for someone who will not get well in the traditional sense. Some people just nail it. Got a card yesterday that simply said, "Just heal." Love it. Your thoughtfulness is to be commended.

Don comes on Friday to make sense of my shop. A job I dearly wish I could do, but... I like seeing a shelf go up and stuff go on it. My job now is to decide what to do with all the 'stuff'. Who might want it. My tools are professional grade for the most part. Some so specialized as to not be intuitive. Cool tools, I always called them.

You didn't have to read my rant, but thanks if you did.

August 1st

I have been remiss in staying in contact and have been reminded to post once and a while. Nothing new to report. Most days are a mixture of feeling OK and/or awful. It is confining and thus frustrating. I love the cards and calls I occasionally get. And so grateful that many [of] you still hold me in prayer. It helps a lot.

Days I feel OK are usually spent in front of the computer doing research and playing games. I have become such a sloth.

A couple of days ago, we got a dvr hooked up to the TV so we can watch movies. We can check out 3 at a time from the library for free. Marilyn chooses well. I don't get out and about much. It is an ordeal and often whatever activity that got us out of the house has to be truncated. Things can and do change that quickly.

I don't mean to bore you or to complain. This is just part of the process.

I am very fortunate. I have come near to the end of my life and find that I am very wealthy. You, my friends, are my wealth. Thank you.

August 4th

Rejoice with me. It is easy to get bogged down in the messiness of been ill. So a particularly good day is to be celebrated. Yesterday was a very good day. Did some productive planning yesterday morning. I often am unable to focus well. So yea for that. Went out (YEA!) for pizza. It was yummy. How fun to get out of the house. After that we had ice cream at Cold Stone with a friend. Couldn't finish it all, but it was chocolate heaven. Got home before my air bottle went into the red. Sort of important. Then a short nap. Got engrossed in a solar project that evening. And a good night's rest. Thank you, Lord. There is so much pleasure in little things.

August 7th

Wednesday news bulletin: Do not place your air hose between your knees when pulling up your pants. Just sayin'....

August 11th

Strawberry smoothie. Yum.

August 17th

Left unsupervised today!

August 19th

Therefore, let the world know that Aaron Garcia is awesome! Aaron is an enterprising young man who has been extremely helpful. He just finished replacing my fence and did a great job. He also put up the blinds, cleaned up the dirt in the back yard, pulled many fence posts left over from previous fences, and is willing to do whatever I asked of him. Praise and thank God for him.

August 27th

You have not heard much from me lately because I had hoped to make this journey with some grace and a ton of humor. To be honest that is increasingly difficult to do. Toxins are building up in my various systems and causing all sorts of havoc. Many have asked about pain. There is no real pain. A lot of upset tummy and a totally screwed up personal temperature system. Ain't pretty. Your continued prayers are welcome and I am certain they are the reason for any short bouts of comfort. Meanwhile, one day at a time toward that day I will suffer no more.

Sadly, that was her last facebook post.

Carol loved black licorice jelly beans, and ordered 5 pounds at the end of August! She thoroughly enjoyed them. And I hope, if you like them, you will help yourself to a few!

Carol was intent on finding something to occupy her mind and time in the house, as she was unable to get into the shop as she had dreamed. On September 1st she ordered a kit to build a robot, which she worked on and finished in just 10 days. She had a wonderful time in the process. However, she did not get to program the robot. Time proved too short. You can see the robot on the memory table.

In a conversation we had shortly before she passed, she asked, “How did we become such good friends?” I said, “Well, it was music that brought us together.”

Carol loved music, and although she often told me she was not musically inclined, I tend to disagree with her. She sang in church, had a guitar (although I don’t know if she played), and thoroughly enjoyed the musicians around her. I told her that musicians need those who appreciate music just as much as people need the musicians. If we were all musicians, who would there be to appreciate it?

She would want you to know that the last few days before her passing were relatively peaceful and pain free, with lots of snoozing. The swelling in her legs and feet had gone away, which was the main source of pain she was experiencing.

I feel that Carol truly did live her last days with grace, dignity and best of all, humor!

She will be truly missed, but we know she is already busy in another shop.

And now, as she said: put some BBQ in the smoker, pop a cold one and have a toast on me.