In Memory of Carol


Carol was one of those rare individuals whose life touched those
of so many others in so many ways, she deserves more than a passing
mention in family history.

Carol Lorraine Sherburne (G-75-45) was born on September 9, 1936, in
Coldwater, Michigan, the youngest daughter of Mary Katherine Gruner and
Virgil Arthur Sherburne, granddaughter of Ben Gruner and great-granddaughter
of Wenzel Gruner. She died on September 29, 1974, at the age of thirty-eight.

The family moved to Battle Creek when Carol was six weeks old. Except for
two years in which she lived in California in the late 1950s, she lived
there for the rest of her life. From the time of her birth, she was a joy,
if sometimes a challenge, to her parents and three older sisters. She was
a happy child, a curious child, and an irrepressible child, always bouncing
about in a way that almost always spread rays of sunshine no matter where
she went. She was a favorite with her many aunts, uncles and cousins, even
though she was often lovingly called “the brat” because it was difficult to
ignore her. She rejoiced in the birth of two of her nephews when she was
six years old, and continually bragged about being an aunt. She felt she
was no longer the baby of the family.

Carol became a class leader. She was musically gifted, so in addition to
holding class offices, she played in the band and danced in the annual
“Band Follies” pageant in high school. Soon after graduation, she married
Lawrence Odette and settled down to motherhood and family responsibilities
with the same enthusiasm and devotion with which she had faced every other
phase of her life. She had four children, two boys and two girls, the last
born in 1963.

Carol was in her early twenties when she was first diagnosed with
rheumatoid arthritis. It advanced slowly, but by the time she was in her
thirties, steroid shots could barely control the pain. Pain may have slowed,
but it never stopped her. After the youngest child reached school age, she
went to work to help with educational expenses.

Carol was always active in her church and in her school. During the troublesome
sixties, school integration had been ordered in Battle Creek because of de facto
segregation. Carol worked tirelessly with other parents of both races to make
the transition as smooth aspossible.


There were many more things that could be written about Carol for she led
a full life in those thirty-eight years. But perhaps the best thing to say
is that she touched hundreds of people in her very special way. For her
immediate family, September 9 will always remain “Carol’s Day.” We will
pause and think sadly of what might have been, yet feel blessed because
she lived as long as she did.

Contributed by her sister Marian.








Another Sister's Tribute to Carol


Carol never thought of herself as a saint.  She tried to keep others
in the limelight, too.  She danced with a partner, Maggie Hoschal,
even when we told her she would do better as a solo act.  Her
reasoning was that Maggie wanted to tap dance but was too shy to
perform by herself.

Carol lived with me for about a year while my late husband, Allen,
was serving in the army in Korea.  Carol loved my furnished apartment
and loved to keep it clean.  I never understood why, but she loved
housework.  My place was never as clean as when she lived with me.

She charmed my landlord so that he said “no big deal” when she burned
a hole in the arm of a living room chair.  She’d had her friends in
while I was gone and someone burned the hole.  She would never tell
me who, even though it came out that she smoked on the sly.  I made
her apologize to the landlord even though she begged me to do it.

I like to think that I was a positive influence on Carol’s life.
The truth is she would have been an outstanding person with or without
me.  I encouraged her innate humor and we had many laughs together.

Some of her antics became the stuff family jokes are made of.  Her
brother-in-law Joe would amuse her whenever he sneezed by saying
“Whiskey!”  She thought this hilarious though most of us failed to
see the humor in it.  Once she was talking to our Uncle Bill Johnson
(4th generation Helen’s husband) and said, “Did you ever see my
brother-in-law Joe sneeze?”  Perfectly deadpan, Bill replied, “No,
I didn’t know you had a brother-in-law named Joe Sneeze.”

When I was in high school I had a couple of dates with a boy named
Dick Peacock.  Carol thought this was so great because she had a
sister who married a Rabbitt and one who married a camel (Campbell)
and in her exuberance in telling it she said to me “And who is that
fellow you have a date with?  A cockroach?”  We laughed and laughed
over that one and do you know, it wasn’t even that funny?

As a three-year-old Carol had a crush on our cousin, Harry Sherburne
Harry would have been in his late teens.  Carol and I went to stay
for a couple of weeks at our Uncle Roy (our Dad’s brother) and Aunt
Mildred’s farm.  It being summer, the men worked in the fields all day.
Carol would watch for them to come in from the fields and then attach
herself to Harry.  She insisted that she had to sit by him at dinner,
many times Harry found himself holding her.  One evening as she sat
on his lap she noticed for the first time that Harry had a somewhat
prominent adam’s apple.  She looked at it for a while and finally
said, “Do you have a carrot caught in your throat?”


Carol was highly intelligent but not a great speller.  Once she sent
me a recipe for “Tomato Aspect,” which was, of course “tomato aspic.”
Her funny spelling mistakes were just part of her charm.

Simply put - the world needs more Carols.

Contributed by her sister, Mary Jo.







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Page date: 05 September, 2002

Music Playing ~In The Garden ~

Page updated: 10 September, 2003