Carolyn Elizabeth Carr Choate born on May 23, 1940 in Medford, Ore., to Frederick James Carr and Willy Moody Carr, passed away peacefully in      Rancho Mirage, Calif., on March 7, 2020 after a sudden and short illness. Carolyn graduated from Medford High School in 1958 and from the          University of Oregon in 1962.
After college, Carolyn came to The Dalles, Ore., where she taught Latin, French and English at The Dalles Jr. High and Latin at The Dalles High School. It was while teaching that she met  Virgil, a fellow teacher, who stole her heart. Virgil and Carolyn were married in Portland, Ore., on July 25, 1964. Carolyn also worked for many years as a teller at US  National Bank.
Carolyn was active in many organizations throughout her life. In college, she was President of the  Gamma Phi Beta Sorority. In The Dalles, she was a Camp Fire Girls leader, served as President of both the American Association of University Women (AAUW) and the P.E.O. Sisterhood, where she was a member for 50 years. In 1977, Carolyn was honored with the community award of Woman of the Year in The Dalles, in large part due to her volunteer activities. Throughout the years she volunteered with Meals on Wheels, School District 12 budget committee, the Wilson School reading program, taught a French class at the elementary level, and was chairperson for the Clothes Closet. Her leadership took her beyond The Dalles as she served as secretary of the Oregon Wheat Grower’s League Jr. Livestock Show, on the Oregon Women’s Golf Association Board, and on the Public Safety Benchmarks Sub-Committee of the Governor’s Task Force on Oregon Shines. Carolyn and her husband, Virgil, were 1993 Wasco County Fair Grand Marshals and 2019 Grand Marshals of The Dalles Cherry Festival.
Carolyn was a lifelong Episcopalian and was an active member of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. She enjoyed singing in the church choir, helping with holiday bazaars and rummage sales, serving on search committees for clergy, teaching Sunday School and directing the junior choir.
Some of Carolyn’s most cherished times were spent with her family,   vacationing at Cannon Beach and Black Butte and attending her grandchildren’s events. She also took pleasure in special trips to Europe and China with her husband and friends, as well as trips to Reno and Las Vegas with her bridge club and her winter golf escapes to the sun with close friends. Dear to her heart were her grade school friends with whom she has had annual slumber parties for the past 30 years.
Carolyn was preceded in death by Virgil, her husband of 55 years; she is survived by her daughters Cathy (Perry) England of Bellevue, Wash., and Judy (Tyler) Kendall of Oregon City; grandchildren Austin Kendall, Zachary England and Sophie England; step-grandchildren Adam Kendall and Alyson Kendall Anderson; nieces Sarah (Leo) Graham, Mary Ellen Johnson, Louisa (Craig) Shelby, Sara (John) Lee, and nephew Charles Johnson.
Donations in Carolyn’s memory may be made to Doctors Without Borders USA, P.O. Box 5030, Hagerstown, MD 21741-5030 or to the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center & Museum, 5000 Discovery Drive, The Dalles, OR 97058.
A Celebration of Carolyn’s Life will be held at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in The Dalles, Oregon. The date of the service is to be determined.
Commented