Carol Berry

Carol Berry of Georgetown went to be with her Heavenly Father on January 1, 2021. Carol was born October 20, 1946 to Joseph and Phyllis (Barnicoat) Chiuminatto in Butte, MT. At the age of one they moved to Portland, Oregon. Carol spent her Kindergarten year in Juneau, Alaska before moving to Albuquerque, NM in 1952.  Carol graduated Sandia High School in 1964 and attended The University of New Mexico where she was a member of Kappa Alpha Theta.  It was at UNM Carol met the love of her life Richard.

Richard and Carol were married on August 5, 1967 in Albuquerque, NM.  They welcomed their son, Stephen, in September 1968.  A few short years later Carol and the family moved to Raleigh, North Carolina. While in North Carolina, Carol served as Den Leader to Stephen’s Cub Scout troop, joined a bowling league and started her love of ceramics.  In June of 1976 they welcomed their daughter, Suzanne.  By April 1978 the family was packing up and moving to Georgetown, Texas where the family welcomed another daughter, Annette in January 1979.

In Georgetown, Carol quickly became involved at St. Helens Catholic Church helping with CCD (Sunday School) and becoming a leader of the Catholic Youth Organization. When not volunteering at the church, Carol was cheering her kids on at their different events, as well as bowling, or playing tennis. In what free time she had she enjoyed creating a variety of ceramics, eventually turning part of the garage into her work space complete with slip machine, dozens and dozens of molds, and even a kiln.

By the mid 1980’s Carol was the Faith Formation Director at St. Helens. She was involved with the Ladies Club, holding an officer position off and on through the years and was the Girl Scout leader for both Suzanne and Annette’s troops. She joined a group of crafters who started the annual Cinnamon Bear craft show, of which Carol remained a part of through 2018.

In the early 90’s Carol started volunteering at Georgetown High School in the office and was eventually hired on part time.  After Annette graduated high school in 1997, Carol didn’t sit idle for very long.  With a servant’s heart Carol launched a mother’s day out program for toddlers through St. Helens Catholic Church.  Creative Beginnings served children aged, 18 months, to 4 years old and through the years under Carol’s leadership and devotion along with the help of many others, the program grew from a single class with a handful of children to multiple classes with a maximum capacity of 120 students in a dedicated facility at the church. By the time Carol retired from Creative Beginnings in May 2007, five of her eight grandchildren had attended.

After Richard retired, he and Carol began the next phase of their adventure together with a lot of traveling.  By train, plane, and RV, they traversed North America from coast to coast while squeezing few adventures to Europe in between.  From Maine to Hawaii or the Florida Keys to Alaska and everywhere in between, every year’s adventure began and ended in Port Aransas, Texas for a little beach rest and relaxation - living their lives to the fullest.

Carol is preceded in death by her parents, Joseph and Phyllis Chiuminatto, in-law Leslie and Laura Berry, uncle William Chiuminatto and her grandparents.

To treasure Carol’s memory she leaves behind her husband of 53 years Richard,  Stephen & Amy Berry of Austin, Shane & Suzanne Coe of Georgetown, Richie & Annette Land of Liberty Hill.  Grandchildren Madison Stewart of Seattle, WA, Kenley & Angela Berry, Noah McHugh, Austin & Jackson Coe, and Macy & Harper Land. Carol is also survived by her siblings Gary & Missy Chiuminatto of Albuquerque, NM and Dr. Charles & Candy Rains of Clinton, SC along with 5 nieces and nephews.

The family would like to thank the nurses and staff of University Village Memory Center in Round Rock for the care and support of Carol through the final year.

Visitation will be held Thursday, January 7th from 6:00-8:00 pm with Rosary reciting at 7:00 pm.  If you would like to attend virtually, an event will be created and posted via Facebook. Funeral Mass will be held on Friday, January 8th at 1:30pm at St. Helen Catholic Church.

If you would like to make a donation in Carol’s memory please do so through theaftd.org.