Carolyn Kimrey

Carolyn Kimrey
October 31, 1940 – June 28, 2022

In June of 1929, just before the Great Depression, Marian Carolyn Wright married her high school math teacher, Hardin Shelley Kimrey.  Marian had led a very sheltered life at Lake Waccamaw, NC, the only child of well-to-do parents.  Hardin was 7 years older than Marian and had grown up milking cows on a nearby dairy farm.  He was a no-nonsense red-head. The two of them had no idea what lay ahead.

Nine months after their wedding night, Marian gave birth to Ann Wright Kimrey, later Humber.  And 10 years later, on Halloween of 1940, Carolyn Kimrey was born.  Carolyn was a bright, precocious little girl and a joy to her family.  It was now World War II.  Hardin went to Florida for Naval Air navigator training and Marian and the girls joined him there.  During their time in Florida, Carolyn got very sick.  She was 18 months old and was running a very high fever.  There were not the life-saving drugs we have today, so they put her in an ice bath and prayed.  But the fever, later diagnosed as encephalitis, was relentless and when it finally broke, she had  profound brain damage.  The damage was so severe that she could no longer walk or speak.

Soon after this, Hardin was sent to Whidbey Island, Washington, for his service in the Naval Air Corp and Marian drove cross country with an adolescent daughter and a young child recovering from a serious illness.  It was a grueling ordeal.  But once they finally arrived in their new home on Whidbey Island, they settled into a place that was just right for Carolyn’s slow recovery.  The Pacific air and open spaces provided a good opportunity to regain her strength and to begin to walk again.  But she never regained her speech.

When the war ended, the family moved back to Clinton, NC, where Hardin and Marian had started a business – Sampson Bladen Oil Company.  As Carolyn got older, her parents tried to find a school where she might learn and develop intellectually.  They tried several but none was quite right.

Then, in 1951, just before Carolyn turned 11, her younger sister Mary Donna was born.  By this time, that 16-year-old bride (Marian) was in her late 30s, running a business, and suffering from back problems.  It was too much for her to handle, so Hardin and Marian decided to try Caswell Center for Carolyn, a state facility in eastern North Carolina for people like Carolyn.  And it was a good fit.  It was only an hour drive from their home in Clinton and the facilities and services were well-suited for Carolyn’s care.  Carolyn came home for birthdays, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, and the family visited her at Caswell several times during the year.

So Carolyn lived the next 70 years at Caswell Center.  She was a cheerful, compliant, docile, loving, sweet woman and the staff always remarked on how they enjoyed caring for her and being with her.  During that period, the policies for state residential facilities for the handicapped and disabled evolved.   When she arrived there, the focus was primarily on safe housing, health care, proper diet, medications (when appropriate), and residents were left on their own, watching TV, thumbing through catalogues, going on occasional outings, etc.  Then in the 1980s and 90s, there was a movement to relocate the residents to community homes.  Given Carolyn’s profound level of disability and vulnerability, the family lobbied heavily to keep her in the residential facility.  They prevailed.   There were programs put in place to help Carolyn learn how to do tasks – use a microwave, make coffee, make her bed, perform grooming tasks, recognize and use coins, and some sign language.  Some of these she accomplished but many were beyond her abilities.

Then the Center won a contract from a local manufacturer to employ some of the residents.  Carolyn had a job packing screws in plastic bags for inclusion in appliance packaging.  She enjoyed the socialization this offered and did her job for a few years quite happily.

But alas, as Carolyn aged, her abilities diminished to the point where she was unable to perform her work.  And in the last couple of years, her physical state diminished to the point where she needed skilled-nursing care.  She was moved into Caswell’s Delta Unit where she was given extraordinary care.  The staff was small but mighty.  They communicated frequently with family, attended to Carolyn’s continuously changing circumstances, and provided steady comfort and care.  Those people are saints and you could see the affection Carolyn had for them on her face every time they came into her room.

When Carolyn came out of her fever as a baby, the doctors told Hardin and Marian that she would not live beyond the age of 5.  Thanks to the remarkable team at Caswell Center, she lived a long and happy life.  The family is deeply indebted to those individuals who over 70 years cared for our beloved Carolyn.   She now lives with her creator who has loved and protected her all these years.  But she is also with Hardin and Marian.  And they are catching up on years of missed conversations.  There is joy in heaven. 

There will be a memorial service at Chapel in the Pines Presbyterian Church (314 Great Ridge Parkway, Chapel Hill, NC  27516) at 10:00 a.m. Monday, July 11.  The family will gather that afternoon graveside at the Clinton Cemetery (703 Herring St., Clinton, NC  28328 at  2:30 p.m.].

Memorial Gifts may be sent to the Caswell Center Foundation, Inc.,
PO Box 1459, Kinston, NC 28503-1459.

 Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.crumpler-honeycutt.com.

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