Carol  Maxine Howard, 91, of Albany, passed away on May 22,  2020, at Evergreen Hospice House in Albany, Oregon with her children at her side. During the week preceding her death, she was home, surrounded by family and her caregivers, who had also become her very dear friends.

Carol was born at home in Deer Island, Oregon on February 2, 1929, to Floyd and Enid McAboy. She was proud to have been born in the same bed that her sister, her mother, and her grandmother had all been born in. It had been a wedding gift from her great grandfather to her great grandmother in 1878. She grew up during the Great Depression and remained frugal for the rest of her life.

Carol had a deep connection to the state of Alaska. In her teenage years, she loved to snow ski and ice skate. She talked of her favorite times driving into the mountain with friends and sitting around a campfire roasting hotdogs after ice skating. She also loved her trips to Seaside with her friends.

Carol graduated High School on May 21, 1947, in St. Helens, Oregon.  She then completed Beautician School.  On September 1, 1950, she became a member of the International Brotherhood of Pulp, Sulphite, and Paper Mill Workers. She met her future husband, Bob, during High School. They were married on July 21, 1948.

Bob, Carol, and their three children moved to the Toledo, Oregon area when Bob accepted a job at the Toledo Paper Mill. They owned several properties over the years but settled long term on a dairy farm they bought in December of 1968. They remained on the farm until moving to Albany in 2010. Carol ran the dairy and was very proud to always pass inspections for Grade A level quality.

To say Carol was a hard worker does not cover it. She maintained a huge vegetable garden. She canned and preserved enough to fill sections of all three stories of the farmhouse. She was "organic" before most knew what it was. She was deeply into health and nutrition and you would never find junk food in the house.

After retirement, Carol and Bob were able to travel. They hit the road in RVs. They made trips to Alaska and down to Mexico. They mostly loved Arizona and became Snowbirds. In spite of her many injuries, she learned to line dance and she even hiked up on a glacier in Alaska. In spite of all the things Carol went through, she constantly asked and worried about everyone else. She always said that they were worse off than her. She was tough, soft, loving, feisty, witty, and loving to the end.

Carol loved gardening and was a member of the garden club. She also loved photography and was always very artistic creating sketches, oil paintings, and self-taught scrimshaw.

She has left us all with big shoes to fill, fond memories, and many life lessons. She is and always will be remembered with Love.

Carol was preceded in death by her husband Robert (Bob) Howard; father Prestley Floyd McAboy; mother Enid Mildred Fowler; stepfather Kenneth V. Fowler; grand-daughter and Guardian Angel Michelle Lynn Edenfield; sister Mildred Mary Kyle.

Carol is survived by her children Deborah, David, and Melinda; granddaughters Melissa and Tara; grandsons Tony, Steve, Jim, Michael, and Bob; great grand-daughters Ashley, Natalie, Sophia, Zoey, and Kiera; great-grandson Duncan and a great-great-granddaughter Avison.

AAsum-Dufour Funeral Home handled the arrangements (www.aasum-dufour.com).