Carol H. Guimond

Carol was born and raised in Oakland City, Indiana. Her life may have started out in a small town but after becoming a military wife she began to travel the world.

Carol met the love of her life, Gordon, in the 8th grade. It was a fairy tale romance with him being the captain of the football team and her being the head cheerleader and Homecoming Queen. They married as soon as Gordon graduated from the Naval Academy. While waiting for him to graduate, Carol earned her teaching degree at Oakland City College. She then moved to Annapolis, Maryland to start her teaching career and to be closer to Gordon.

As soon as they were married, they began to travel. One of their first duty stations was in Pensacola for pilot training. Their first daughter, Gayla, was born while stationed there. A second daughter, Shelly, came while on a teaching assignment at the Naval Academy in Annapolis. Carol continued to teach school at many of the places they were stationed including Bogota, Columbia.

If you knew Carol, you knew her love for God, family and Bridge! She earned the status of Gold Life Master in the ACBL Accredited Contract Bridge League. She combined her love for bridge and teaching by offering classes in duplicate bridge. She and Gordon also directed many games at the Pensacola Bridge Barn.

Carol’s love for travel continued even after Gordon’s retirement from the military. Gordon and Carol often took their grandchildren with them on their travels. Michael and Tracie enjoyed their first cruise to Jamaica and Cozumel. Ryan joined them on an Alaskan cruise. Jason enjoyed going to Atlanta after the 1996 Olympics and seeing the Olympic Village by day and the Stone Mountain laser show by night. Tyler traveled with them to Mount Rushmore in South Dakota taking a route that allowed them to complete their goal of visiting all 50 states. Carol and her brother, Bob, traveled halfway around the world to Australia and Indonesia. And of course there were many family trips to Disney World.

Even in fairy tales life has its share of trials. When hurricane Ivan came in 2004 their dream home in Gulf Breeze, Florida, was destroyed. Carol took it all in stride. She even joked about how she wanted to downsize but wished she could have been a little more selective. During this difficult time she felt it was important to open up the Bridge Barn so people had a chance to escape their troubles and enjoy the feeling of a normal life again even if it was only for a few hours.

Carol also enjoyed playing and watching many sports. She liked sharing the story of being tackled by a boy because she was protecting second base in a coed softball game at school. The coach felt terrible for putting her in that position because he said he should have known Carol wouldn't back down even with someone barreling into her.

She also enjoyed playing tennis, bowling and golf. As a Hoosier she enjoyed basketball of course, (Hoosiers don’t have a choice). She was also an avid tennis fan. For her 90th birthday she attended the Miami Tennis Open and was able to see some of her favorite tennis players. She also attended many sporting events of her favorite all around athletes, her grandchildren.

Carol loved to read, work crossword puzzles and play Scrabble. It kept her mind sharp. She loved new adventures and made friends easily.

Carol was lucky to have all her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren living close by for most of her life. The children are lucky, as well, to have had her close by for most if not all of their lives.

Carol is preceded in death by her husband, Gordon. She is survived by her brother,

Bob Hightower; her daughters Gayla (Sam) Rogers and Shelly (Tim) Elbert; her grandchildren Michael (Emily) Rogers, Tracie (Josh) Smith, Jason (Jenn) Elbert, Ryan (Tory) Elbert, Tyler Elbert, and Ben (Paula) Rogers; her great-grandchildren

Madison (Brent), Lily, Charlie, Carter, Hailey, Blakely and Brooklyn.

Carol was known as a daughter, a sister, a wife, a mother, a grandmother, a greatgrandmother, teacher, and a bridge director. She had many titles, but those who were blessed enough to know and love her, called her friend.

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