Carol Lee Birdwell

The phrase that sums up her life was: God first, Family second, Mary Kay third.

Born on March 19, 1934 in Cuero Texas, a 5th generation Texan, to teachers Roy Delvin Buford and Ollie Imogene Wakefield Buford, she grew up with many cousins in Corpus Christi, summered on the south Texas beaches, and rode horses at her Aunt Melba’s farm in Victoria. She took piano and voice lessons, and at 16, blessed with true perfect pitch, she sang and played piano with her father and his friends in their band. She graduated Salutatorian from her high school. She was a tall, beautiful girl with two wonderful, accomplished, and respected parents. She had a very large family of cousins who spent their entire childhood together on the beach, at school, and at church. A daddy’s girl, she was encouraged to do many things by her mother which she would not have naturally reached out to do, such as accept leadership roles in social organizations like serving as president of the Corpus chapter of the Children of the American Revolution.

In 1952, she married Frank Birdwell in Corpus at 17 years old, and moved to San Diego, CA, where she got a job with an aircraft company, and Frank served in the United States Navy for 4 years. Having started college at Del Mar in Corpus Christi, Carol went on to take classes at San Diego University, and University of Texas in Austin. Upon his completion of service duty, the couple moved to Austin, where Frank attended UT, earning a PhD in petroleum engineering. They had 3 children in Austin: Lynn, Ann, and James. Carol was employed as a secretary for the first nine years of their marriage, and after a couple of children were born, began working as a full-time homemaker. Frank was hired as a professor at LSU and the family relocated to Baton Rouge LA, in 1964. They designed and built a new home in Highland Lakes, Baton Rouge. They also had 4 more children: Amy, Beth, Julie, and Dan. During this time Carol’s sister Sue died at the age of 21, giving Amy, her middle name.

The family joined a Church of Christ in Baton Rouge, and attended Sunday morning, evening, and Wednesday night services. Every child in the family learned to read music, in a congregation of 500, singing acapella in 4 to 8 part harmony. Carol’s father was a preacher and song leader and she had attended church all of her life. Carol joined a women’s performance choir for a short time. There was always a large library of books in the home, and Carol taught each child to read before they started school.

In 1972 the family of 9 moved to a beach town. In Ventura, CA, Frank began a new job with Getty Oil. They bought and renovated a long ranch style building that turned out to be a well known swimming school, where many people in town had been taught as a child to swim. The property included a large avocado tree which Carol dearly missed when the family later moved back to Texas. From the ‘60’s through the ‘70’s, most every summer the family would drive in a station wagon together to enjoy one week in Corpus Christi at the beach with their maternal grandparents, and one week in Caddo Gap, AR, on the mountain and in the creeks with their paternal grandparents. In 1977 she became a Mary Kay beauty consultant, and decided to truly focus on building a new career.

From signing her Consultant Agreement in February 1977 to her Director Debut in January 1980, Carol remained not just a proponent of the amazing Mary Kay skin care products, but also a champion of the incredible opportunity that Mary Kay provides to women worldwide. Over the years, the Birdwell Highflyer Unit achieved many goals, including 5 times Cadillac Unit, 7 times Premier Club, and 8 times Grand Achiever - that's 20 cars over 40+ years! In addition, the unit reached the Seminar Circle of Achievement 15 times as high as the $500,000 club. But of all the accolades, pink cars, diamonds and so much bedazzle... Carol most loved to celebrate the achievements of her Beauty Consultants, Red Jackets, Team Leaders, DIQs, Offspring Directors, Queen of Sales / Recruiting, Go Give Spirit, ALL of her Adoptees. Carol herself was the recipient of the Go Give Spirit award, bestowed by Mary Kay Ash herself and one of the most unique designations within Mary Kay, since those named are chosen for their heart and service to others.

In 2019 she lost her first grandchild, Megan, to cancer at age 34. The following year she lost her daughter-in-law, her oldest son James’ wife Angela.

Today Carol claims 21 grandchildren and 19+ great grandchildren. They call her Grandmama, a name she chose for herself, which sometimes gets abbreviated to G-Mama. For as long as she could, she attended every birth, visited and loved every child, grandchild, and great-grandchild, and helped in every home, in any way she could.

Surviving children include Lynn Birdwell and Raul Casares from Houston TX, Ann Birdwell and Thomas Nequent from Beaumont TX, James Birdwell from Willis TX, Amy Birdwell from Conroe TX, Beth Frizzell and Troy Frizzell from Austin TX, Julie Earley and David Waindel from Houston TX, and Dan Birdwell from Kansas City MO.

Surviving grandchildren include Christopher and Mary Lovely, Rebeccah and Kenny Brunette, Marissa Lovely, Lauren and Josh Hendrix, Skyler Adams, McKenna and Ben Pendergrass, Austin and Megan Birdwell, Micah Adams, Mitchell Earley, Sara Sahadi and Nic Strong, Devin Birdwell, Madeline and Michael Brown, Marion Earley, Noah and Jamie Adams, Samantha Frizzell, Matthew Frizzell, Elena Adams and Daniel Lazcano, Camellia Adams, Cooper Waindel, and Austin Waindel.

Surviving great-grandchildren include Grady Harrell, Caleb Pendergrass, Claire Lovely, Emelia Pendergrass, Parker Birdwell, Gideon Dilling, Emily Lovely, Ezra Pendergrass, Piper Birdwell, Miles Pendergrass, Ruby Adams, Hannah Lovely, Reagan Brunette, Emma Brunette, Grant Hendrix, Oliver Pendergrass, Andrew Lovely, Geoffrey Hendrix, and Luke Brunette.

She was preceded in death by her parents Roy Delvin Buford and Ollie Imogene Wakefield Buford and sister Sue Buford Burson, from Corpus Christi TX, husband B.F. Birdwell from Willis TX, granddaughter Megan Elizabeth Yang from Tigard, OR, and daughter-in-law Angela Jean Birdwell from Willis TX.

In lieu of flowers, the family request donations be made to:

Mary Kay Foundation funding goes towards cancer research, establishing women’s shelters and funding programs that help survivors.

https://marykayashfoundation.org/

Giving flight to students in the arts. Mission to enrich the quality of education for South Montgomery County high school students.

https://Clbbfoundation.org

A visitation for Carol will be held Sunday, August 13, 2023 from 12:00 PM to 2:00 PM at Forest Park The Woodlands Funeral Home & Cemetery, 18000 Interstate 45 S, The Woodlands, TX 77384, followed by a funeral service from 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM. A catered reception will be held at Forest Park The Woodlands Funeral Home following the service from 3:00pm to 5:00pm

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.forestparkthewoodlands.com for the Birdwell family.