April 4, 2018 at 5:30 p.m.
Carol Annette Smallwood Thayer, 82
By Norman Funeral Home-
She was born August 26, 1932 to Harry and Inezell Ruddick Smallwood in Seymour, IN.
Calling will be Tuesday from 4 to 8 p.m. at Norman Funeral Home in Hope. A celebration of Life service will be Wednesday at 11 a.m. at the Chapel of Good Shepherd with burial to follow at Flat Rock Baptist Cemetery. There will also be calling one hour prior to service time at the church Wednesday.
Carol graduated from Shields High School in Seymour in 1950. She married Donald L. Thayer on November 26, 1955 at Trinity Methodist Church in Seymour. He preceded her in death on April 30, 2010.
She is survived by their children, Kim Annette Miller of Hope, Steven Charles (Karen) Thayer of Scipio, and Kay Ellen Thayer of Novi, Michigan and grandchildren, Wesley Glen (Shanda) Thayer of North Vernon, Benjamin Smallwood Thayer of Scipio and Paige Annette (Ryan) Waltz of Hope and a brother, Keith Smallwood of Brownstown.
After high school, Carol was a telephone operator with Indiana Bell Telephone Co., and then a PBX operator and receptionist at Arvin Industries. She also modeled for the Paris Style Store in Seymour, Paul Harris in Edinburgh and the former Elder Beerman store in Columbus. After marrying Don, she became a full-time mother, homemaker and helped on the family farm. After her children left home, she worked as a clerk at the courthouse, as a pharmacy technician at Taylor Drugs, served in the Taylorsville and Columbus East cafeterias, and also worked at Centra Credit Union.
Her favorite job was that of baby-sitting her grandchildren. Her family meant everything to her and after God, they were her first priority.
An avid reader and writer, she wrote columns for the Arvin Folks monthly magazine and wrote reports for the Senior Center Sound Off newsletter. She was Writer of the Year for The Republic in 1999. She loved traveling and visited Greece, Hawaii, Ireland, Scotland, and Alaska. She also saw most of the United States, attending USS Menard navy ship reunions with her husband. They hosted a reunion in Columbus in 2007.
Carol was a charter member of the Chapel of the Good Shepherd and was a member of the church's Ladies Aide group. She was a member of the Friendly Neighbors Home Ec Club, the former Christian Women's Club, the Red Hot Chili Peppers Red Hat Group, did water aerobics for 20 years with the Wellness Group and was a volunteer with the "Our Columbus Regional Hospital".
She made surgical sponges and most recently worked in the patient gifts department. She was a long-time volunteer with the American Red Cross and worked with the blood mobile drives.
During the Korean war, she entertained soldiers and airmen at Bakalar Air Base and Camp Atterbury. She was also a volunteer for the Agency on Aging and for the IRIS program.
She line-danced with a group of seniors called the "Stepping Stompers". She was a Tony Stewart fan.
Memorials may be made to Our Hospice of South Central Indiana, the Clifford or Hope Fire Departments, Chapel of the Good Shepherd or the Wounded Warriors Association.
She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, her brother, Roger Smallwood, her sisters Carmen Vehslage and Margaret Pollard and son-in-law, Lowell Miller.[[In-content Ad]]
