Carol B. Wilmoth

Carol Felice Brass Wilmoth was born on January 30, 1946, in Lansing, Michigan, because her mother, Glenn Carolynn McGoldrick, happened to be there. She spent her early childhood in Memphis, where she attended Miss Lee’s School. When Carol was about 9 years old, her mother married John Herman Gilbert and moved to Fairbanks, Alaska. She graduated from West Anchorage High School in 1963, where she sang soprano in the choir.

She attended nursing school at Memphis State before marrying Harvey Wilmoth on September 10, 1966. They moved to Fort Worth, Texas, where Carol gave birth to three sons: Robert Christopher in 1968, Jeffrey Todd in 1971, and David Alan in 1972. They then moved to Houston and bought a home in Sharpstown. Carol and her family joined Braeswood Assembly of God Church, where she became actively involved in the choir. Carol was in charge of costume design for many holiday pageants and ran children’s church for many years. She was deeply involved in her sons’ many activities, serving as a den mother for Cub Scouts and driving carpool for the Singing Boys of Houston.

In 1988, the family moved to Missouri, where they lived first in Lake Sherwood and later in Washington. During her years in Missouri, she spent many an evening on a boat on the lake fishing with Harvey. One time, she caught a 7 pound 9 ounce largemouth bass. It was there that she became a grandmother, with the birth of Kayla Ashlee in 1993. Her sons gave her another five granddaughters over the years: Kristen Lunette and Sara Nicole in 1995, Bronwyn Elise in 2002, Madeleine Faye in 2006, and Caroline Kennedy in 2011. She loved Joshua Brantley, Trevor Lampkin and Breanna Lampkin as if they were her own grandchildren as well. She is a four-time great-grandmother to Zavior, Kayson, Alice, and Kamryn.

Carol filled her life with arts and crafts. Not a room in her home lacks a framed counted-cross stitch she made. She crocheted afghans and quilted blankets. She enjoyed ceramics and painted landscapes. She made costumes for Halloween and pageants, sewed dolls, and even made backpacks for each of her sons. She read voraciously: historical novels, romances, mysteries, and religious fiction. She enjoyed her Bible study, both self-directed and in group settings.

She also took vacations with her family and friends, including to New Mexico, Colorado, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Alaska, Florida, Louisiana, California and England. She cherished deep friendships with Carolyn Wilson, Sarah Smith, and Linda Wells.

Carol’s faith in Christ defined her adult life and she passed her firm conviction in God’s providence on to her sons. She always reminded them that God had never failed to be there for them and whatever worried them would work out. She slipped from this life on July 11, 2019, at the age of 73 years. She is survived by her husband, sons, granddaughters, and great-grandchildren, as well as her daughters-in-law Valerie Hill and Traci Wilmoth, her brother Jay Gilbert, and a sister. She was always grateful that her first-born child, Alys Drake of Germantown, was raised by loving parents, the late Dr. and Mrs. Aden Barlow.

A service of remembrance and celebration of life will be held at Memphis Funeral Home, 3355 Poplar Avenue, Memphis, Tennessee, at 4 pm, with visitation at 3 pm, and a reception at Bartlett Baptist Church.

Memorial gifts may be made to St. Jude Children’s Hospital or Samaritan’s Purse.