Carol Celeste Groom

Carol Celeste Groom passed away on Thursday, July 15, 2021at Virginia Hospital Center. Born in Medicine Lodge, Kansas in 1926, Carol attended schools in Kansas, graduating from Wichita State University in 1948. She moved to Arlington, Virginia where her family had settled after her father retired from the Army, following his service in World War I and World War II.

Carol taught school for three years in Garden City, Kansas and Arlington County and then worked for the American Red Cross Service to military families. She joined the Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company in sales in 1956. She earned the professional designations Chartered Life Underwriter and Chartered Financial Analyst and became a partner in the Washington Financial Group. She worked as a financial consultant for 50 years.

She served as President of the D.C. Life Underwriters Association in 1978 and Washington Chartered Financial Consultants in 1981, the first woman to lead either group. She also served as an officer in the DC Estate Planning Council. She was a life member of the International Million Dollar Round Table, the membership in which is comprised of the top producers in the insurance and financial products industry. In 1984 she received the Bernard L. Wilner Award from the Helping Hands Society of Greater Washington.

She was active in the community particularly in the development of Phoenix House, a home for alcohol and drug addiction. She was a member of Walker Chapel United Methodist church, having chaired various committees. She was an active member of the Neighbor’s Club in Arlington, where she solicited guest speakers for the annual book luncheon, as well as her much-loved monthly book club.

Carol loved books, politics, opera, theater, MSNBC, The Sunday New York Times and her family and friends. She traveled extensively, to Russia, Poland, Italy, France, Scandinavia and many more countries, as well as to a host of US locations, especially New York City and Arizona.

She was preceded in death by her parents, J. Fuller and Carrie L. Groom, her brother Robert L. Groom and two nephews. She is survived by her sister, Audrey Groom Ward and brother, Theodore R. Groom (Beverly) and 12 nieces and nephews.

Memorial gifts to Walker Chapel Community Outreach Foundation will be appreciated.

Her Celebration of Life will be held at 10 a.m. on Friday, July 30 at Walker Chapel United Methodist Church, 4102 N. Glebe Road, Arlington, where she will be laid to rest. Masks are required and, due to Covid protocols, preregistration by calling the church office, is encouraged.