Carol Lynn McNichol

Carol “Smurtz” Lynn McNichol (nee Smith) was born September 20th, 1944 in North Vancouver to Alexander and Ivy Smith, and died February 4th, 2024 in Abbotsford, BC at the age of 79.

Carol spent her early years in North Vancouver with her parents, sister and 2 brothers. As the eldest child, Carol was always very strong and independent. The family moved to Ocean Park in South Surrey when Carol was a teenager, which at the time was a little beach town off the beaten track. 16th Avenue at the time was still a gravel road.

After graduating High School, Carol met Glenn Parkinson, who was tall and handsome and would eventually become her husband at a ceremony held on the front lawn of her childhood home.

Carol attended the University of Victoria where she received her Teacher’s Certificate. After university, Carol began working at Halls Prairie Elementary School, where she made many new lifelong friends, and began her love of teaching the primary grades.

In 1970, while pregnant with their first child, Carol and Glenn built the family home from a Beaver Lumber kit, with the help of family and friends. The property was at the end of a lonely gravel road in the countryside of southern Langley with towering trees and the occasional deer and many stray cats passing through. Carol could often be found out in the backyard gardening, or bucking up a fallen tree with a chainsaw.

After 17 years together, Carol and Glenn divorced, starting the next chapter of her life as a single mother, raising her loving but challenging two boys. During this time Carol developed the strength and independence that would define her.

Carol met the true love of her life in 1991 when she traveled to see her close friend Jean in Ontario. One evening Don McNichol was invited to dinner and three days later they were engaged. Imagine the shock when she returned home to her sons with news of her engagement to someone she’d just met. It was so obvious that they were destined to be together, and they were married in Ontario just two months later. After briefly living in Toronto, Carol convinced Don to move to Langley where they would spend 25 wonderful years together. These were the happiest years of her life. Don and Carol saw the world together and their love remained strong until the day Don passed away just after their 25th anniversary.

Though she mourned Don very deeply, Carol continued to be strong and lived her life to the fullest. She was a central figure among her cherished family and friends and had an enviable lust for life. She was an avid sewer, quilter, and stained glass artisan. She loved outdoor activities, including golfing, swimming and kayaking. Her adventurous nature inspired her to RV all over western North America. Her favourite travel destinations were Princeton and Oliver in BC and Kehei on Maui, but she traveled to many exotic locations including the Middle East, and as far flung as Patagonia where she walked the southern shores with penguins.

Carol was preceded in death by her husband Donald McNichol and step-son Donald McNichol Jr., and is survived by her children Steven (Shannon) and Michael (Luciana), step-children Paul (Gwen) and Shelley (Norman), twelve grandchildren, three great-grandchildren, siblings David (Patricia) and Irene (Perry), as well as numerous nieces and nephews. She will be greatly missed by all.