Carolyn Karrer of Paris || Obituary

Carolyn Karrer, of Paris, died on July 30, 2023, just shy of her 83rd birthday. She was a lifelong student and teacher, a lifelong Democrat and United Methodist, and a proud wife and mother. She spent her last conscious moments talking cheerfully with a nurse – the most natural way for her to go.

The only child of Monroe and Myrtle Tolle, she grew up in La Grange, listening to ghost stories with her friend, Helen, and the sound of rain on the metal roof of her parents’ two-story house. She loved playing in the yard next to the Methodist church or inside on its piano or organ. She played Alto Sax in the band and helped teach her own high school math class.

When she went to Southwest Texas State, she participated in the Campus Christian Community. There, she met Ray Karrer. One day, she inquired if he might be interested in dating her friend and was surprised to learn he preferred to date her! After he ate her grandmother’s raisin pie despite his dislike for raisins, she decided he was a keeper. They married in 1962 and grew more in love every year.

After their wedding, they immediately moved to Odessa, to begin their teaching careers. At a new teacher reception at Highland Methodist Church, they met their best friends and frequent travel companions, Lynda and Lamar. They lived in a tiny apartment provided by the school district. Fellow teachers “redecorated” that apartment after learning Carolyn and Ray avoided having their car decorated at their wedding. The couple responded with kindness: Kindness 1 and 2, their trusty water guns.

Having earned their Master’s Degrees in History and Drama from North Texas State, Carolyn and Ray moved to Brownsville for a short time. In 1969, they accepted jobs at Paris Junior College, where a friend invited them to apply. They meant to stay for a year to earn enough to pursue doctorates. Instead, they bought a home in 1972 and retired from PJC after 33 years. Carolyn made sure her students knew the fascinating stories of U.S. and Texas history. Many of her students credited her as the teacher who most prepared them to complete their Bachelor’s Degrees, and many of Ray’s drama students credited her (and her mother who came to live with them) as a great host of numerous cast parties in their home. She even contributed to peace in the Middle East (really!).

During her time in Paris, Carolyn didn’t check her brain at the door as she walked into church, and she didn’t check her faith at the door as she walked out. She was heavily involved at Calvary United Methodist Church where she sang in the choir, served as chair of the Missions Committee, and was President of the United Methodist Women more than once. She also served as President of the UMW in her district and as Dean of the Weekend Cooperative Mission Event for the North Texas Conference of the UMC. She and Ray ministered to prisoners in Bonham and volunteered at a disaster relief supply depot in Louisiana. She also served on the board of the United Campus Ministry/Wesley Campus Ministry at PJC for almost 50 years and actively participated in the campus ministry’s work.

In 1975, Carolyn gave birth to Clayton, named in honor of a favorite pastor who fought for social justice. Raising Clayton taught Carolyn and Ray that one kid was enough, but they were quite happy to add his wife, Cynthia Kepler-Karrer, as a daughter-in-law in 2007.

In 1996, Carolyn emailed her son to say she thought she was having a heart attack. She then drove herself to the hospital, where her cardiologist put in the first of 18 or 19 stents. He and everyone else at the hospital then reminded her to call 911 the next time. Thanks to the care of Drs. Garcia, Le, Das, and others, Carolyn lived 26 years longer than she would’ve otherwise. At one point, she was in the cath lab so frequently, she dubbed herself “The Heart Cath Queen” and began wearing a tiara to her surgeries to the delight of her doctors and nurses.
Hospitals weren’t Carolyn’s only travel destination. Over the years, she and Ray took multiple trips across the United States, Canada and Mexico, and to Europe. They almost always traveled with friends and family and saw old friends or made new ones around the world. In 2011, just two weeks after the revolution in Egypt, Carolyn and Ray calmly cruised the Nile River while their friends fretted back home.

Not even the death of her beloved husband in 2013 could stop Carolyn. She continued traveling and serving God through her church, making new friends and keeping up with the old.

There will be a family visitation for Carolyn Karrer from 6-8 p.m. on Thursday, August 3rd, at Fry & Gibbs Funeral Home, Paris. Carolyn’s funeral will be held at 2 p.m. on Friday, August 4th, at Calvary UMC, Paris. There will be a reception afterward for people to share their own stories of Carolyn’s life.

On Monday, August 7th, at 11 a.m., there will be a service for family and friends at Monthalia Methodist Church in Cost, Texas. Afterward, Carolyn will be laid to rest next to her husband and parents.

The family requests that in lieu of flowers, memorials be given to Calvary UMC, the Wesley Campus Ministry at PJC in care of Calvary UMC, or the Scholarship Fund in memory of Carolyn Karrer at PJC.