Obituary of Carol Lee Therrien

No visitation Carol Lee (Billington) Therrien April 22, 1931 – August 13, 2007 Carol was born April 22, 1931 in Saginaw, Michigan to Ione (Wise) and Thomas L. Billington. She passed away quietly, less than 3 months after being diagnosed with lung cancer, even though she had quit smoking over 14 years ago. She had been plagued with poor health for the last 25 years of her life, with adult onset diabetes, painful neuropathy in her hands and feet, and arthritis. In her younger years she had taught ballet and had a special aptitude for artistic endeavors of all kinds. She is survived by her husband of 58 years, Edward. She raised three outstanding children, all of whom have survived her. Darcy Miller of Warrenville, IL, became a Registered Nurse; Timothy Therrien, of Tulsa, Oklahoma, is a 100% disabled veteran of the Vietnam War; Carla Lee, of Gig Harbor, Washington, became a Registered Respiratory Therapist. She is also survived by her only brother, Thomas D. Billington, of Edenton, GA, a cousin, Colleen Gilliland, of Saginaw, MI and her daughter, Maclyn, and her children, Andrea and Neal, as well as many nieces and nephews. She was proud of her six grandchildren, Brent Miller, Trisha Miller Thomas, Jessica and Jay Therrien, and Rachel and Anna Karr. She was also graced with 5 great grandchildren; Brandon and Michaela Miller, Kaitlin Thomas, and Faith and Madison Holt, all of whom were a real joy in her later years. A more complete friend and wife were not possible. She was a beautiful person, both inside and out. A beauty in her younger years, as well as in later life, she loved everybody and everything; giving her love freely to her husband, family, friends and pets. She was compassionate and caring for those that were less fortunate, both man and animal, and contributed whenever possible to animal rights and environmental funds asking for help. Carol lived a nomadic life that was not of her choosing. Her father was a traveling auditor and whenever he was reassigned to a new audit, he moved the family, with little regard to her needs as far as schooling was concerned. Consequently, she attended 27 K-8 grade schools in Michigan, Ohio, and Illinois, in addition to four High Schools. She often said she was either “the dumbest kid in class, or the smartest, depending on where that school was in their studies”. Carol and Ed met early in life, through Ed’s brother, Dick. Ed was 16 and Carol was 13. One look and they were in love. He asked her if she would marry him if they were still going together when she was 18 and graduated, and she unhesitatingly said “Yes”. They continued to see each other after she moved back to Saginaw, MI, as Ed had joined the U.S. Coast Guard, and worked a transfer to Martin Reef Light Station, at Cheboygan, MI, only 90 miles from Saginaw so they could be closer. After he left the service in 1947, Ed moved back to his hometown, and Carol moved again, this time to Oak Park, IL, thirty miles from Ed. They became engaged in Oak Park, on Christmas Eve, in 1948, in the middle of her senior year of High School. A month later, her family moved to St. Paul, MN, where she was told she would have to go to summer school to complete her senior year because Oak Park HS would not certify all her credits. She had planned to be married in July, after her graduation, so she decided to forego the additional months of school, and they were married on April 9, 1949, two weeks short of her 18th, birthday. Together, they moved 30 additional times in 12 different states in the 58 years they were married. Despite the fact she didn’t graduate from High School, there was no holding her back. She attended school and became and Operating Room Technician in New Berlin, WI. After her children left home, she also worked as a Crisis Hotline Operator in Fredericksburg, VA, working with potential suicides and battered women. Just before her death, her husband appealed to the school board and administration at Oak Park High School, and they graciously granted her an honorary diploma because of her life’s accomplishments, and she was graduated with the class of 2007. Her family presented the diploma to her several weeks prior to her death, and she was proud and happy that she finally got that long deserved award. While living in Wisconsin, She and Ed embraced the Baha’i Faith. Together they belonged to many communities, or resided as isolated believers in Muskego, Brookfield, and Waukesha, Wisconsin; Overland Park, Kansas; Burke and Fredericksburg, Virginia; Cary, North Carolina; Farmington, New Mexico; Archuleta County, Colorado; and Mason and Thurston Counties, Olympia and Lacey, Washington. Her family wishes to thank both their Baha’i and Baha’i friends for their help and prayers, and especially all the wonderful people at Providence Hospice, who were so caring and considerate. They made her last days comfortable and painless, and allowed her to die with the dignity that she so deserved. She was a wonderful wife, mother and friend who will be missed by all who knew her. She was interred at Tahoma National Cemetery, Kent, WA A celebration of Her Life will be held at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, August 18, 2007 at the new Masonic Center, 455 North Street SE, Tumwater, WA. If you wish to make contributions in her name, please make them to Providence SoundHomeCare and Hospice, PO Box 5008, Lacey, WA.