Carolyn Strawhun Anderson, loving wife, mother, sister, grandmother, aunt and friend passed away peacefully in her sleep on Jan. 2, 2024, in St. George, Utah. Carolyn Strawhun was born on Jan. 30, 1929, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, to Lewis and Florence Strawhun. Her daddy would tease her, saying “The Great Depression and you hit me the same year.”
She lived in many places in Oklahoma while she was young, and when she was 13 her family settled in Baldwin Park, California, where Carol finished high school and then attended Mount San Antonio College. Her family moved to El Monte, California, and Carol worked for the Pacific Telephone Company in Los Angeles.
She met William Anderson from Utah while he was renting a room from her parents, and three years later they were married on June 14, 1952, in Alhambra, California. In Carol’s own words, “This was the biggest and best change in my life. Not only did I get a husband, I got a ready-made family – a 12-year-old son Lynn, and a 6-year-old daughter Beverly.” In 1961 Carol went to work for Dr. Thomas Koumas; she loved working in his family practice office as a nurse, assisting in the care of his patients.
Carol joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in September 1961, and Bill and Carol were sealed in the Los Angeles temple on July 18, 1964. Bill and Carol retired in 1977, and in the fall of 1983 moved to St. George. Carol loved to work in the St. George temple and travel with Bill. They drove across the country visiting family and friends and taking in the beauty of the U.S. Her greatest joy in life was her family; she was a beautiful example of love and faith, and she will be greatly missed by those who knew and loved her.
Carol is preceded in death by her husband Bill Anderson, her parents Lewis and Florence Strawhun, siblings Dorothy Alice Strawhun McKeehan, Mary Ester Strawhun Miller, Eunice Lousie Strawhun Faddis, Luther Dwight Strawhun, Ethel Eldora Strawhun Faddis and Amos Lincoln Strawhun; her son Lynn Anderson and daughter-in-law Linda Anderson.
Carol is survived by Beverly Trask (daughter), Birmah Glen Finley (sister), Shani Shorter (granddaughter), Staci (Rodger) Hardy (granddaughter), Brad (Amy) Anderson (grandson), Hayli (Riki) Peters (great-granddaughter), Nash Hardy (great-grandson), Jake Shorter (great-grandson), Liam Anderson (great-grandson) and many nieces and nephews.
Funeral Services will be held on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024, at 1 p.m. at Serenity Funeral Home of Southern Utah located at 1316 South 400 East No. A6, St George, Utah. A viewing will be held prior to the services from noon– 12:45 p.m. at the same location, with a graveside service immediately following the funeral at St. George City Cemetery, 650 E. Tabernacle St.
In lieu of flowers please share memories or stories of Carol on the mortuary website or with the family. Arrangements and memorial tree planting by Serenity Funeral Home of Southern Utah, 435-986-9100.