Carolyn was born in Carolina, WV to the late Violet and Michael Suplita on August 31, 1940, in a coal mining town built by the Consolidated Coal Company in 1915. The town was named after coal baron James Watson's daughter, and her father was a supervisor of the mine. There she grew up watching her father and brother Thomas play hardball on the local field in the evenings, became a beauty queen in high school, and worked hard at school to eventually attend Fairmont State, where she met her husband Frank Gearde.
Frank and Carolyn married in April 1959. They had two daughters, Sheryl Lynn and Leslie Ann and a son, Michael Franklin, the latter pre-deceasing her in 2016.
Starting their life and family together, and with Frank taking a civilian job with the Forest Service, they moved across the Midwest from Indiana, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, before finally settling in Northern Virginia, outside of Washington, DC. Once the kids were in school, Carolyn became a Realtor, for Long & Foster and Weichert and where she worked for many years eventually become a Real Estate Broker, raising their family in Centreville and later Great Falls, VA.
In 2001 after Frank’s retirement and subsequent 10 years as a consultant, they moved to Hobe Sound, FL where Carolyn sought to give back to her community. She became very active in St Christopher’s Catholic Church and as a member of the Council of Catholic of Women (CCW). She ran the Lost Lake Community book club and volunteered for Safespace, whose mission is to help individuals and families break the cycle of domestic violence and build healthier lives. She loved working with the children at Safespace, spending hours sharing her love of arts and crafts with them to help them forget the violence they or their mothers had endured.
Carolyn will be remembered by her husband, Frank of 60 years, her daughters Sheryl (Paul) Cosing, Reston, VA, and Leslie (David) Mattick, Manassas, VA along with her five grandchildren, Justin and Alec Cosing, and Faith, Emma, and Brooke Mattick and extended family and numerous friends.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at St. Christopher Church, 12001 SE Federal Hwy, Hobe Sound, FL, on Tuesday, February 18 at 10:30am followed by a reception.
Memorial donations may be made to SAFE Space of Stuart, FL
