Carol A. French

Carol Ann French, age 83, passed from this life to the next on Wednesday, October 11, 2023, at the Renaissance Health Center in Olmsted Falls.  

She was born in Pontiac, Michigan in 1940 to Walter and Golda (Medling) Heacock.  She has one brother, Bill (Charma) Heacock of Lexington, who lovingly cared for and teased her all her life. She came to Shelby when she was 17 and worked at the local movie theater until she got a job at the “Tuby” (ArcelorMittal).  That simple decision changed her life forever - she found incredible friends and true love.  She selflessly raised two daughters and a granddaughter.  If they needed shoes, she went without.  If she thought someone needed a crock pot, she bought three.  If a friend or foe looked with interest at her supper, she insisted they take half.  She embodied generosity.  

Carol found her lost youth through her children.  One fateful night her daughter, Keebee, asked her to drive to toilet paper a friend’s house.  She was never the same again!  She stocked toilet paper and frequently asked “when are we going again?”. They went on many adventures until Keebee went to college.  What did Carol do then?  She recruited her friends at the Tuby!  They filled offices with balloons, had amazing parties, and even convinced a salesman to jump out of a casket placed in her boss’s office for his birthday!  However, she met her match one night.  She arrived with “decorating supplies” at her friend’s house and discovered he was lying in wait with a water hose!

She will be joining many friends and family in heaven including her parents, husband Jerry Winely and Calvin French (married 29 years), and her precious dogs.  Her memory lives on in her surviving daughters, Karen Obojski of Shelby, Nicole “Keebee” (Eric) Joseph of Olmsted Township; three grandchildren Lisa Obojski, John Calvin Joseph, and Zack Joseph.  Her other many passions included gardening, baking, reading, strawberry rhubarb and possum pie.

The family will receive friends at Barkdull Funeral Home on Friday, October 20, 2023, from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm.  Funeral services will immediately follow, and Pastor James Robinson will officiate with interment held in Oakland Cemetery in Shelby.

In place of flowers, memorial expressions may be made to the Hospice of the Western Reserve at www.hospicewr.org.
 

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