Charlotte Carroll

"A great soul serves everyone all the time. A great soul never dies. It brings us together again and again." - Maya Angelou On August 3rd, 2014 Charlotte Marie Carroll passed peacefully away to join God and her beloved husband of 67 years, Bill Clarence Carroll. She was born to Charles and May Badgett on July 6, 1929 in St. Louis, Missouri. Charlotte epitomized grace, elegance, poise and dignity in her day to day life, attributes that were the capstone to her rich and captivating character. These traits were cultivated throughout her life such that no matter where she went, who she was with or whatever the occasion Charlotte's presence seemed to add a sense of effervescent charm and polish to the room. Ever the minstrel, Charlotte captivated family and friends with a rich tapestry of stories drawn from a vast collection of life experiences. Whether it be accounts of one of her many trips abroad or her unique childhood growing up in San Ildefonso or Isleta pueblos, they were all told with her unique brand of humor and charm and steeped her life with an intuitive spirit she carried with her for life. It was surely these characteristics that caught the attention of the love of her life, Bill, at Five Points Elementary School in Albuquerque's South Valley and on August 10, 1947 the two married shortly after their graduation from Albuquerque High School. In her later years Charlotte became an accomplished seamstress and spent many devoted hours working on needlepoint creations and rewards us with the many fine canvasses she leaves behind. However, Charlotte's deepest passion was her family and she relished every moment she spent with them; a devoted wife to Bill Carroll who preceded her in death, a devoted mother to Billy Charles Carroll and Carolyn May Mason of Albuquerque, a devoted Grandmother to Scott Bradley Mason of Albuquerque and Charles Stanton Mason of Durango, Colorado. Although her later years were a struggle, she faced all of her challenges with bravery, patience and a good dose of humor, all of which she used in defeating breast cancer, as well as her valiant battle against vascular dementia which she finally succumbed to. Although the dementia slowly robbed Charlotte of her many faculties, walking, speech, eating, drinking and her wonderful memories she did manage to keep the two that were indelibly Charlotte: happiness - flashing her "thousand watt smile" whenever someone touched her or drew near, and her love for Bill - the last words she spoke were "Bill?" The family wishes to thank Jessica Williams and Elizabeth Chavez with Home Sweet Home Assisted Living and Melissa Pino of AmberCare for their loving care at the end. In lieu of flowers please consider making a contribution to The Alzheimer's Association. Services will be on Friday, August 8, 2014, at 10:00 a.m. at FRENCH - University.