Carolyn Raye Fletcher lived her life, and endured its battles, with a fierceness, courage, and unshakeable dedication to everyone she loved. At the end of a 3-year battle with cancer, she died, at home, on September 20, 2022, holding the hand of her son. In that moment, she achieved a decisive victory over cancer. Cancer took her body. But, her spirit, and her fearless heart, live on, within everyone touched by her life, and her endless love, in her short 73 years.
“Don’t worry about the obituary. Let them use the form.”
That, and many other things, didn’t work out for her. She was deeply loved, and preceded in death, by her parents, Paul & Maxine Domer, a brother, Paul, Jr., and husband, Philip. Though her losses, she remained strong in her faith, and her dedication to helping others.
“How did you end up teaching, anyway?”
“It was an accident.”
Mrs. Fletcher – to her other kids – was cursed with a lifelong love of learning. This culminated in an extensive career teaching elementary students at North Lamar ISD. Faced with the choice of her goals, or her family, in the wake of her brother’s early death, she selflessly chose her family – and her career.
She poured her heart into her work, fighting quietly for any child who hurt, or struggled. All held to her exacting standards – but her arms forever open, ready to help. All anyone had to do – let her.
A lifelong member of Direct Baptist Church, she served as organist, secretary, and anywhere else she could. Her church family received joy through her service in music and hospitality. There, she married my father on December 21, 1979, in a ceremony illuminated by candlelight – and her entirely-contagious smile.
“Family is who we choose, and who chooses us, too. That’s what love is.”
My parents’ struggled to have children, but eventually, they had a son, Lance. Ever since, she’s been my hero, my finest teacher, and my greatest inspiration. I, like all the others she’s loved, are better, stronger, people, for having known her love.
She retired in 2005, following the death of her mother. Retirement didn’t suit her heart. She worked as a substitute and ESL teacher, until she ended up with Fry & Gibbs Funeral Home. As she put it to me, “For the first time in my life, I feel like I belong somewhere. I look forward to it every day. They’re my family.” Her gifts there, and to all blessed by her, were her joy, peace, and generosity.
“Sometimes, helping others is what helps ourselves the most.”
She’s survived by me, her professional family at Fry & Gibbs, aunt and uncle, Billie and Weldon Foster, many cousins, a generation of her children she taught, a church family, and innumerable friends who became her family. We all miss her, but she lives still, in each pure act of kindness, and in our hearts.
A graveside service will be held at Pyle’s Cemetery of Sumner, TX, on Monday, September 26, 2022, at 10 a.m. Reception follows, at Direct Baptist Church.
In lieu of flowers, our family requests that those who’ve loved her, follow her example. Choose kindness, compassion, and love. Give to those in need, and to those you love.
