Carol Gleim Butlin

Carol Gleim Butlin, age 71 of Atlanta, passed away Thursday, July 18 after a long struggle with cancer. She was born January 31, 1942 in Parsons, Kansas to the late Melvin Christopher and Dorothy Gordon Gleim. Carol graduated from Hickman High in Columbia, Missouri, before attending the University of Tennessee Knoxville where she was a member of the Alpha Chi Omega sorority and a finalist in the Miss Knoxville pageant. She eventually moved to Atlanta with her family and was active in the Atlanta Ski Club, her church community and choir, and her family’s real estate business. She also continued competing in pageants and was a finalist in the 1964 Miss Atlanta pageant, and the 1964 Miss Dixie contest in Daytona Beach. Traveling also was important to Carol. She toured and skied throughout Europe in the ’60s with her late brother, Dennis Gleim who helped start the Atlanta Ski Club, and spent much of her leisure time enjoying many trips with her children and nieces to Disney World, Gatlinburg and Epcot Center. Both families spent weekends together on Lake Lanier camping, fishing and boating. Carol also loved her animals, and during her lifetime she raised monkeys, birds, fish, dogs and all other sorts of pets. But it was her beloved Pomeranians that were always by her side. Carol also was an extraordinary artist and craftsman. She was a certified One Stroke paint instructor, and extremely talented at carving and decorating large emu and ostrich eggs. She also was an avid lover of fine antiques, and spent much of her life collecting rare dolls, toys and clocks. She worked most of her life in retail, having grown up behind the counters of her family’s own dime stores, M.C. Gleim & Co., in Owensboro, Kentucky, and Columbia, Missouri. In the ’80s, she ran her own retail store in Decatur, The Doll Place. Carol is predeceased by her parents Melvin and Dorothy Gleim and one brother, Dennis Gleim, all of Magnolia Springs, Alabama. She is survived by her son and daughter-in-law, Christopher and Tammy Butlin, and her daughter, Ashley Butlin; her two granddaughters, Mallory and Savannah Butlin; two nieces, Lisa Gleim-Jonas and Sarah Gleim; one great niece, Libby Jonas; and her children’s father, Dr. Win Butlin, all of Atlanta; as well as many other loving friends and family members. The family wishes to thank all of those who cared for her during her last few months. Visitation is Saturday, July 20, 2013 from 5 to 7 p.m. at H.M. Patterson & Son Arlington Chapel, 173 Allen Road, NE, Sandy Springs. The funeral service will be at 2 p.m. on Sunday, July 21, 2013, also at H.M. Patterson & Son Arlington Chapel with the internment to follow at Arlington Memorial Park in Sandy Springs.