Carolyn Frances Carroll

Carolyn Frances (nee Gahagan) Carroll, mother, artist and educator passed away suddenly on October 21st, 2022 in Houston, TX. She is survived by her two children Patricia (Pear) Carroll and Timothy James Carroll and their respective spouses, George Bradley Mitchell and Nancy Joy Feidelman. Carolyn has three grandchildren whom she cherished: Benjamin Lior Carroll, Evelina Roisin Mitchell and Caleb Liam Carroll. Carolyn joins her beloved husband Michael Mary Carroll, former dean of the George R. Brown School of Engineering at Rice University, who passed away in 2016. She is also survived by her brother Peter T. Gahagan, his wife, children and grandchildren as well as her brother Robert W. Gahagan’s widow, children and grandchildren. Carolyn has five sisters-in-law in Ireland, Michael’s sisters, and their husbands, children and grandchildren with whom she visited and made sure to stay in touch.

Carolyn was a creative and researched thinker who received concurrent degrees in Art and Art History from the Rhode Island School of Design and Brown University, where she met Michael. In 1960, while at Brown, Carolyn was honored to meet the Reverend Dr Martin Luther King Jr. and had a profound one on one discussion with him about religion’s impact on social and economic justice, a topic she studied throughout her life. She deeply supported integration and educational equity and received both General Education and Art and Art History teaching credentials at UC Berkeley to teach in both parochial and public schools in the San Francisco Bay Area. Carolyn was particularly interested in African and Latin American art and it’s connection to political movements.

She loved both skiing and body surfing for their communion with the outdoors and planned regular trips every year for her family to enjoy both. Her family finds solace in her remaining artwork and many recorded reflections.

Please check back for information on a pending memorial this coming spring as well as charities which Carolyn esteemed.

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