Carol Pearson, 96, passed away Monday, December 17, 2018


Born November 20, 1922, in St. Cloud, Minnesota, she was the daughter of George William (Bill) Pearson and Alice Muriel Washburn. When she was two years old, her parents moved to Tulsa when Bill took a position teaching chemistry at what was then Central High School. When he worked at the Oklahoma Ordinance Works during WWII, Muriel took his place as the chemistry teacher. Bill was a founder of the Tulsa Teachers' Credit Union.

Carol graduated from Central High School and then the University of Tulsa with a Bachelor of Music Education degree. During WWII she worked at Douglas Aircraft. She taught instrumental music in fifteen grade schools in Bixby and Tulsa and played the oboe in the Tulsa Philharmonic and The Tulsa Community Band. She was a member of Phi Mu Sorority, Pan-American Round Table, the English Speaking Union, Hyechka and All Souls (where she was a lifelong member) and Hope Unitarian Churches.

Carol was proud of her parents, especially her father. She was interested in the heritage of her father's Swedish family from Minnesota and her mother's family from the Pittsburgh area.

She loved her Phi Mu sorority sisters and stayed active in the alumni organization. She once said she was very fortunate in her college days to belong to Phi Mu as she had four sorority sisters who had 4.0 grade point averages.

Carol married R. Murray Carr, Jr., in 1946 and over the next 33 years she raised a family. There were high expectations for her children in regards to academic excellence and instrumental music.

After Murray and Carol separated, after the children were grown, she met William C. Johnson and was happily married for about 12 years. During that time she spent the summers in the mountains outside Los Alamos, NM, where she was close to her sister Ann and her family. There she played in the local community band.

Throughout her life she traveled for adventure. She went to Africa, Turkey, Colombia, and Russia. She loved the outdoors, wildlife, and travel. When the children were growing up, many trips were made to see the sights and experience the world. She kept in touch with many high school and college friends.

She played her oboe in the Tulsa Community Band up until just a few years ago, when she broke her wrist and was no longer able to play. Physical fitness was important to Carol. She maintained exercise regimens up until the accident with her wrist, which happened at the end of an exercise routine.

She attended every symphony, opera, and ballet performance she could, being a life-long supporter of those organizations in Tulsa.

She did good things and was always donating to charities. Some of her friends would tell her children about what a wonderful person their mother was. One friend has said the reason she loved Carol so much was that she was the most truthful person she had ever met.

The Girl Scout organization was important to her. She became a troop leader while her daughter was a Girl Scout. She believed in women's rights and wanted to support women in advancing their place in the world.

She is survived by her son, Raymond M. Carr III of Tulsa, her daughter, Laura Trumbull of Phoenixville, PA, three grandchildren, Elizabeth, Marion, and Chase Trumbull, and sister, June Bridges of Mountain View, CA.

She is preceded in death by her sister Ann Dickey of Albuquerque, NM, and R. Murray Carr, Jr., and William C. Johnson, both of Tulsa.

In the last few years Alexis Morgan was her caregiver whom she dearly loved.

A memorial concert will be held Saturday afternoon at 2 pm on February 9, 2019, at Hope Unitarian Church, 8432 S. Sheridan Road, in Tulsa. Carol wanted her service to be a concert and desired that her children did not need to give any eulogies.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her memory to Hope Unitarian Church or the Girl Scouts of Eastern Oklahoma.


Girl Scouts of Eastern Oklahoma (formerly known as the Magic Empire Council of Girl Scouts)
To donate online, go to < https://www.gseok.org/content/gseok/en/give/capital-campaign.html >
and click on Honorarium and Memoriam Gifts. That page will ask for a street address for the
honoree; please skip that section and specify laura.c.trumbull@gmail.com as the email for the
notification. You can also send a check to Girl Scouts of Eastern Oklahoma, 4810 South 129th East
Avenue, Tulsa OK 74134, Attn: Memoriam Gifts.

Hope Unitarian Church
To donate online, go to http://hopeuu.org/connection/donate/ . They don't have a provision for identifying an honoree; if you do it this way, please drop us an email at laura.c.trumbull@gmail.com . You can also send a check to Hope Unitarian Church, 8432 S. Sheridan, Tulsa OK 74133, Attn: Rev. Cathey Edwards.