Ann Marie Carroll

Our Mom, Ann Marie Carroll, nee: Donovan, was born in New York on October 14, 1939. She lived a full life and completed her earthly journey on August 23, 2023 at the age of 83.

She grew up in the Bronx and raised her children on Long Island. While she was a New Yorker the majority of her life, she also resided in Oregon for over 25 years before retiring at the age of 72 and moving to Topeka, KS.

Once her children were older, Mom re-entered the workforce in the late 1970's and learned to build and inspect computer circuit boards. She earned her General Equivalency Diploma in May 1992 and her Certification as Nursing Assistant in November 1994. She then embarked on a life changing career as a caregiver. She found her career as a caregiver to be most rewarding. She worked in private care and then residential care, with her final assignment in a memory care unit. She spoke in generalities about how she enjoyed her work and getting to know the residents she served. Having the privilege of sorting through Mom's papers, I found countless heartfelt letters from the families of residents who had passed. Many of them felt as though Mom had been a part of their family!

Speaking of family, Mom set the bar pretty high for her children. She had an amazing work ethic and expected the same of us three kids. She wholeheartedly supported the varied directions we took in pursuit of careers and was proud of each of us! She was confident, kind, calm and never had a bad thing to say about anyone. She definitely subscribed to the old adage, "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all". She would patiently listen when one of us came to her, but then helped us move on to a workable solution. She had a tremendous sense of humor and was a wonderful story teller! Sitting around the dinner table with her was entertaining!

Mom had many hobbies. Her first and foremost favorite was spending time with her beloved family! Some of our favorite memories revolve around the whole family playing games in the backyard. The youngest to the oldest of any given gathering could be found playing volleyball or badminton or just flopping around in the pool. As we kids married, grandchildren and great grandchildren came into her life and she continued making awesome memories. She did everything and anything, from dying Easter Eggs, reading books, playing board games and even playing dinosaurs, in order to connect.

Mom loved to travel. She visited a great many states in the US and a number of foreign countries. Her overseas adventures included Germany, Belgium, France, Austria and England. She thoroughly enjoyed visiting natural wonders, historical sites, museums of all sorts, and attending plays.

Other hobbies that Mom enjoyed were drawing, doing crosswords, listening to music and voraciously reading all genres of books!

Mom's favorite singer was Patsy Cline and particularly loved Patsy's rendition of the hymn, "A Closer Walk With Thee". Mom's favorite bible passage was Psalm 23.

Mom is predeceased by her daughter, Cathy Kato and her great grandson, Logan Brown.

She is survived by daughter, Teresa Brown (Phil) and son, Edward Carroll (Lori) and son-in-law Dave Kato; her grandchildren: Katie (Erik), Joe, Stephanie (Kevin), Nicole (Francisco), Megan, Ben and Ashley (Carey); and her great grandchildren: Aniya, Lincoln, Archer and Cooper.

Her family would like to thank Home Instead Senior Care for three months of steadfast and loving care, as well as Midland Care Hospice for their incredible and caring assistance in her final week.

The family will hold a private celebration of her full and well lived life!

To leave a special message for the family, visit the guestbook below.