Carolyn Olive (Schaeffer) Leaverton

Carolyn was born on August 24, 1931 in Longview, Texas and left this life on July 14, 2016 in Granbury, Texas due to Alzheimer’s.

She was born and welcomed by her parents, Willard Ardell and Josephine (Bowen) Schaeffer, and her older brother Bill. Carolyn kept her parents busy with adventures, climbing trees to be a ship captain during a storm or neighbors’ roofs for a better look at the clouds. Not fond of dresses, she wore her brother’s old jeans and overalls, unusual for the 1940s. Her father was a petroleum engineer and they lived in small Texas towns, then in St. Louis, Long Island, and Houston before they settled in Midland while Carolyn was in high school.

She and a group of inseparable friends, calling themselves WHAMs (We’re Hunting a Man) graduated in 1949 and remained friends throughout her life, coming together every year or two to have a WHAMs reunion.

Carolyn attended Texas Tech University in Lubbock. She was feisty, full of humor, and her smile could light up a room. She met a young guy named David on a blind date after her friends said he was a wonderful guy and in true Carolyn fashion she replied, “If he’s so wonderful, why can’t he get his own dates?” Their romance blossomed, and after a Midland wedding in July 1952, they began their married life. Lauri Jo arrived in 1954, Karen Lou in 1957 and in 1959 they completed their family with Connie Lynn.

She volunteered with Girl Scouts, as a Sunday school teacher, and in her daughters’ many activities. Her curiosity and sense of wonder inspired her to study archeology, theology, and history, gleaning all she could from any book in her meticulously categorized home library. She told delightful stories, spontaneously sang, and had brief but hilarious adventures in theatre. After all, the world was her stage!

Carolyn treasured writing, museums, camping, sunsets, back roads and genealogy. She loved to explore and find historical markers, tiny old towns, abandoned cemeteries and geographical features. She talked to animals, flowers, trees and mountains, and her grandkids and great-grandkids were privy to her cute Carolynisms. She and David enjoyed their travels to Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Alaska, Hawaii and many states, following the Lewis and Clark Trail and the Brazos River.

One never knew what to expect from Carolyn and she loved it that way. She lived with laughter, creativity, a love of nature and an abundance of love for those around her. Left to cherish her through wonderful, sweet memories are David, her husband of 64 years, daughters Lauri Leaverton (Daniel Smith), Karen Duhrkopf (Don), and Connie Leaverton. Grandchildren Erik (Brie) Horbatko, Katrina (John) Durham, Julie (Brent) Dore, Melanie (Brady) Young, Sean Leaverton and Ian Leaverton live on to share her legacy, as well as great grandchildren Abby, Beckett and Braeden Durham, Gwynneth Horbatko, Davis and Paige Dore, and Adalyn Young (due September). Her brother and parents preceded her in death, but her dear sister-in law, Edith, and her nieces and nephews will miss her spunk, as well as her WHAM friends and countless others she touched throughout her life.

A Celebration of Life will be held Saturday, July 30 at 2 p.m. at Wiley Funeral Home, 400 East Hwy. 377, Granbury, Texas. Carolyn loved the colors of our world and to honor her, please dress to fill the room with color. To share condolences and memories, please visit www.wileyfuneralhome.com.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Pecan Plantation EMS at 8650 Westover Ct., Granbury, TX 76049, or the North Texas Alzheimer’s Association at 2630 West Freeway, Suite 100, Ft. Worth, TX 76102.