Visitation will be Saturday, May 5, 2018 from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. at the North Chapel of George A. Smith and Sons. A Service of Remembrance and Resurrection will take place on Sunday, May 6, 2018 at 2:00 p.m. at the North Chapel. Interment will be held privately at Ridgecrest Cemetery on Saturday.
Carmen was born to Bethel Mark Cockrill and his wife, Annie James Morgan Cockrill, on December 31, 1921. She was preceded in death by her husband of 55 years, Charles Edward Bruer, whom she married in 1942.
Carmen lived in Jackson from 1949 to 2008. She was a licensed minister of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and a charter member of Bethany Christian Church. She held denominational leadership positions at the local, area and state level. Carmen was a member of the founding board of Regional Inter-Faith Association and later served as its administrative assistant and, ultimately, as its director. While at RIFA, she was instrumental in the formation of the RIFA Food Bank, Jackson Area Hospice (now Hospice of West TN), and Jackson Habitat for Humanity. She was honored as Altrusa Woman of the Year in 1983 and retired in 1986.
Carmen was active in P.E.O., the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Mid-West Tennessee Genealogical Society, Church Women United, Friends of the Library, Jackson Symphony League, the Mutual Improvement Club, and the service organization of Ballet Arts of Jackson. She served more than 10 years as a member of the Jackson Historic Zoning Commission. She also served as president of the Jackson High School PTA and the Episcopal Day School Mother’s Club. Carmen enjoyed playing bridge, sewing, needlepoint, reading, genealogy research, and world travel.
Carmen is survived by her son, Charles Richard (Dick) Bruer, and his wife, Sally, of Madison, AL, her daughter Lara Annette Bruer Tarver, and her husband, Brent, of Houston, TX, four grandchildren (Elizabeth Bruer, Christopher Bruer and his wife, Teresa, Robertson Tarver, and Annsley Tarver) and seven great-grandchildren.
In lieu of flowers, her family requests that donations be made to Regional Interfaith Association of Jackson.
