She was born on September 29, 1927 in Ozark, Alabama to parents Luther Dawkins Ennis and Callie Laura (Pound) Ennis then lived briefly in Dothan, AL before moving to Washington County, GA, near Deepstep. She received post-secondary education as an Army Nurse Corps Cadet and graduated Nursing School at Macon Hospital as part of the 765th Army Nurse Corps. With the end of WWII, she entered civilian service at Augusta Medical College Hospital in 1945, where she met Claude VanSant. They were married June 10, 1950 at the Augusta First Baptist Church. They moved to New Orleans, LA for Claude’s medical internship and then Lafayette, LA for medical residency. She lived in Douglasville, GA where she raised her family before moving to Athens, GA in 1971. She worked as a Registered Nurse until the age of 75. She loved to travel, watch classic movies, read, play golf, and bridge and was very proud of her grandchildren, great-grandchildren and Irish heritage. She was a member of the Athens (Elijah Clarke) chapter of Daughters of the American Revolution. She even practiced nursing for a time in Saudi Arabia. Her proudest achievement, however, was raising her six children.
She is survived by her children Claude V. (Brenda) VanSant III of Thomson, GA; Karen (William) VanSant Wilson of Leesville, LA; Jeff VanSant of Athens, GA; Tim (Peggy) VanSant of Indiana, PA; Scott VanSant of Wilmington, NC; and Stan (Kelly) VanSant of Atlanta, GA. She is also survived by eleven grandchildren and five great grandchildren.
She is survived by her sister Anne Arnbal of Athens, Ga.; Elizabeth “Liz” Cowart of Crossville, TN; and Francine “Tina” Brown of Griffin, GA. She is preceded in death by brothers Doyle Ennis of Gordon, GA; Milton Ennis of Athens, GA; and a sister Ellen Killingsworth of Athens, GA.
Services will be at Bernstein Funeral Home in Athens, Georgia, with Pastor William Wilson presiding. Family visitation will occur at 10 AM, Thursday January 24, 2019, followed at 11 AM with the memorial service. Graveside service will be in Milledgeville, Georgia; 2 PM at Memory Hill Cemetery. Donations in lieu of flowers may be sent to the Fisher Center for Alzheimer’s Research Foundation at 110 East 42nd Street, 16th Floor, New York, NY 10017 or to Daughters of the American Revolution online www.dar.org/donatenow and list Elijah Clarke Chapter for Carolyn VanSant.
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