Carol Lynn Thomas

Carol graduated from St. Joe High School in 1955. She met her husband Ronald while still in school and they married in 1957. They moved to Fayetteville, Ark., where Carol attended and graduated from the University of Arkansas with a bachelor’s degree in home economics.

During this time Ronald joined the US Air Force. Carol took her first teaching job in North Little Rock while Ronald served his country. Carol continued her teaching career for several years, teaching in Leslie, Ark., Lincoln, Ark., and St. Joe. Carol and Ronald had two children, Ron and Mae Lynn.

In 1970 they moved their family to Iron Mountain where they lived for the next 10 years. In 1980 Ronald and Carol moved to Germany where they lived and worked for five years. Upon returning to Iron Mountain, Carol began work as a case manager at the Northpointe Behavioral Health Systems. She was very dedicated to the work of caring for the clients of Northpointe. Carol retired in 2005, and along with Ronald, moved back to St. Joe. Carol continued to help and work in the education field at Marshall High School for a few years.

Carol’s many relatives and friends will miss her kindness, strength and generosity. Her warm, loving spirit is an enduring comfort and inspiration.

Survivors include her husband, Ronald Thomas of St. Joe; daughter, Mae Lynn Thomas and wife Antoinette Golding of Muscatine, Iowa; son, Ron Thomas and wife Laura of Ann Arbor; and sister, Lucile Horton of Marshall.

Carol was a loving and generous grandmother to her four grandchildren, Aaron Golding and wife Ashley of Chicago, Megan Pashnik and husband Erik of Grand Rapids, Nathaniel Thomas and wife Prianna of Monterey, Calif., and Bennett Thomas of Ann Arbor.

Carol was especially proud of and loved deeply her two great-grandchildren, Rocky-Lee Golding of Chicago and Anne Pashnik of Grand Rapids. She was a caring sister-in-law to Gloria Fontecchio of Columbia, Mo., and Danny Thomas and wife Sherri of Harrison, Ark.

Carol is preceded in death by her parents; her brothers, Joe Keeling and Jack Keeling; and her sister, Amberline LeCompte.

Funeral services for Carol will be 2 p.m. Sunday, May 20 at the Roller-Coffman Funeral Home in Marshall, Ark., with Brother John Eslinger and Brother Danny Thomas officiating. Visitation will be 1 p.m. preceding the service.

Burial will follow in Stone/Keeling Cemetery near the Tomahawk community of St. Joe. Friends and family will serve as pallbearers.