Carolyn Elsie McAboy (Waterbury), passed away at home on January 29, 2023, in Fennville, Mich., at the age of 90.
At her request, there will be no funeral service.
She was born August 8, 1932, and grew up in Clarkston, graduating valedictorian of her class in 1950 at Clarkston High School.
While she had planned to attend Michigan State University, she fell in love with her future husband, and instead enrolled at Pontiac Business Institute, graduating in November 1951. In high school, Carolyn earned spending money helping her neighbors at Ellis Horse Farm in Springfield Township.
After marrying, she helped her parent-in-laws at their restaurant, the Old Plantation Inn, also in Springfield Township. Carolyn worked for six years at Oakland University, primarily for the Art Department.
In 1967, Carolyn and her family moved to Bay City, where she spent about 25 years working at the Bay County Prosecutors Office and made many lifelong friends there.
She loved to play golf and joined a women’s golf league. She read voraciously and loved to travel and go to the theater. She and her daughters and sister would go to Stratford, Ont., several times each summer to attend the Shakespeare Festival. Carolyn travelled to Paris, New York City, Alaska, the Bahamas, St. John, Hawaii, the Rose Parade, and many other United States destinations with her daughters. A Mediterranean cruise with her sister was a major highlight for her.
She was also fearless, going white water rafting, hot air ballooning, and trying cross-country skiing for the first time in her 50s. She especially loved watching the Great Lakes Loons play and attending Bay City Players performances with her good friend Lori Urbancik. She was a great cook and couldn’t visit any relatives without bringing her famous banana nut bread.
Carolyn is preceded in death by parents J. Lionel and Bernice (Stoddard) Waterbury, stepfather Leopold DeClerq, siblings and their spouses Elaine (Waterbury) and Patrick 0’Connell, James and Nancy (Brown) Waterbury, son-in-law, Bill Bowen, sister-in-law and brother-in-law Sandy (McAboy) Bacon and Donald Bacon, nephew Patrick O’Connell, and ex-husband Robert McAboy.
She is survived by her two daughters Kathy Purcell and Susan Bowen and beloved son-in-law and caregiver Rick Purcell. She is survived by nieces Mary (O’Connell) Huffman, Gail (Palmer) Smith, and Doddi (Palmer) Brewer, and and nephews Michael O’Connell, Timothy O’Connell, and Jay Waterbury, and many grand- and great-grand nieces and nephews.
She was a wonderful, strong, and compassionate mother and friend, who will be sorely missed.
Memorial contributions may be sent to the Bay Area Women’s Center or the Bay City Players.