Carolyn Lonas

home early Saturday morning surrounded by her family.

Born in Thomaston, GA, Carolyn spent her early years near Perry, GA

before moving to Anniston, Alabama, and graduating from Anniston High

School. While there, she distinguished herself as a student, an

orator, and a swimmer. She attended Agnes Scott College where she

majored in English and Bible and met her first husband, Bill Scott, a

student at Georgia Tech and a Chattanooga native. They married in 1957

and moved to Milton, FL, where Bill was stationed as a flight

instructor for the US Navy and she taught fifth grade. She and Bill

soon moved to Chattanooga, and Carolyn continued to teach fifth grade

at G. Russell Brown. Throughout the next twenty years, she substituted

at Bright School, taught Sunday School and Vacation Bible School at

Hixson Presbyterian Church, where she served as President of Women in

the Church. At First Presbyterian Church, where she was a member at

her death, she taught a variety of women’s Bible Studies and served as

a member of the PCA Women’s Advisory Board. In addition, she served

for many years on the Academic Advisory Board of Covenant College.

Always eager to learn, Carolyn earned a Masters of Art in English and

Writing from UTC after the death of her first husband. She joined the

Lookout Rowing Club, where she assisted Bill Raoul as an instructor on

the river. An avid outdoors woman and excellent wingshooter, Carolyn

also enjoyed water-skiing and swimming throughout her life. She loved

God’s creation and treasured her daily walks in the woods, teaching

herself the names of the flora and fauna, especially birds, of her

beloved Hillocks. A voracious reader of fiction, non-fiction, poetry,

and drama, Carolyn appreciated the written word and shared her

enthusiasm for literature intelligently. Her passion, however, was for

the Bible, which she read, studied, memorized, and taught for over

sixty years.

After her marriage to Jack Lonas in 1983, she realized her lifelong

dream of traveling throughout the world as an ambassador for Christ.

She and Jack spent time in Haiti, France, Ireland, Germany, The

Netherlands, Belgium, Hungary, and India before moving permanently to

England, where they lived for nine years working with World Harvest

Mission to plant a church in Southall near London. There, Carolyn

helped equip women from Pakistan, India, and Sri Lanka with English

language skills as she loved and welcomed them into her home.

Defined by her ability to transcend and ignore the social position or

culture of others, Carolyn directly influenced and impacted people

wherever she went in an authentic and Godly way.

She was preceded in death by her husband of twenty-four years, William

Downing Scott, her parents, Thomas and Martha Barker, and her sister

Diane Woodfin Barker.

She is survived by her husband of twenty-eight years, Jack Lonas, her

five children, Kathaleen Scott (David) Hughes of Chattanooga, Carolyn

Scott (John) Cain of Ocala, Florida, Jennifer Scott Henley (Michael)

Ward of Chattanooga, William D. (Angie) Scott, Jr. of Lookout Mt.,

Georgia, and Laura Lonas (Tom) Hughes of Chattanooga; thirteen

grandchildren, David and Scott Hughes; Elizabeth Hope and Mary Scott Cain;

Carolyn Claire, Eric, and Locksley Henley; Rachel and Spencer Ward;

William and Lily Scott; and Natalie and Allison Hughes; sister, Marti

Barker Rogers of Anniston, AL, brother and sister-in-law Mack and

Sarah Ann Lonas of Chattanooga, sister-in-law Sue Odom Scott of Signal

Mountain, and several nieces and nephews.

The family will receive friends Sunday, October 7, from 4-6 p.m. at Chattanooga Funeral Home, North Chapel and also on Monday, October 8 at 2 p.m. until the time of service at First Presbyterian Church.

The funeral service will be Monday at 3 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church Rev. Chris Ehlers.

Memorial contributions may be made to World Harvest Mission, Harvest

International, Ocala, FL, Harvest USA, First Presbyterian Church World

Missions.