November 15, 1944 – May 31, 2023

With profound sadness we announce the sudden passing of Carolyn Campbell Joiner, our loving and devoted mother and friend to all whose lives she touched, on May 31, 2023.

She was the beloved mother of Susan (Keith) Bremner, Kim (Scott) Brown, Cathy (Jason) May, and Michael Joiner, proud grandmother of Alec, Scott, Zoe, Kyle, Campbell, Ryan, Wednesday, Rhys, and Bodhi, and cherished sister of Robert Campbell.

She was predeceased by her devoted husband Gerald, parents Lillian and Robert, brothers Kenneth and Norman, and sisters Helen and Sara Ann.

Our Mom… how can we describe her fully in just one paragraph? It’s hard but here goes.

She lived a full life as a caring mother, a true military wife, and a loyal Alabamian.  She was born in Alabama and somehow even being stationed overseas and all around the United States, she never lost her southern drawl.  We always got a laugh when she would quiz strangers about where she was from based on her accent. She would get mad when they guessed Mississippi. Regardless of where she grew up, her home was always with us and our dad no matter what our address was. She was an avid collector, a great dancer, a lover of nostalgic items, a great gardener, and a big conversationalist. Her home reflected all the latter.  As soon as you pull into the driveway, our late dad’s old full-size truck is still there.  She refused to sell it even though she could barely see over the steering wheel.  Once through the door, there hangs the antique wall mounded hand crank telephone that we always got a stern talking to for playing on as kids-heck even as adults! Photographs of the family, both past and present line the walls of the staircase and the tables in her bedroom. Her Alabama memorabilia as well as her various trinkets and furniture pieces from England can be found throughout the house. The dining room houses the many spoon racks. If you were wondering, it is a huge collection.  It would take a good part of a day to polish all the spoons and that was even after recruiting us to help her whether we wanted to or not.  Her next collection worth mentioning is her Beanie Baby assortment.  “They will be worth something someday”, she would justify.  She was right.  We started googling them and some are valuable.  We are still on the hunt for “Bubbles” among the huge group. It tops the charts.  How could she not have that one?? She has an old victrola in the garage. We don’t know if she danced to any records on it, but we do know she loved to “cut a rug” listening to our stereo in the living room.  She taught all of us kids and grandkids how to “Jitterbug” to Chubby Checker’s “The Twist” in there.  She was a natural.  She was voted “Best Dancer” in high school for her moves to that. We smile to the memory of her playing the Beach Boys’ “Barbara Ann” and “Surfin’ U.S.A.”  repeatedly while letting the grandkids take turns “surfing” on the coffee table. When she wasn’t dancing, she was outside tending to her multitude of flowers or chatting with someone on the back porch. Her usual “Come sit out here with me and let’s talk.  I haven’t seen you in forever” turned any quick visit to her house into a stay of an hour or more. She loved her family and friends deeply, so she made the most of the time she was able to spend with them. We all cherish the moments we had with her.

This synopsis doesn’t do her justice, but we hope it gives you a glimpse into who our mom was. She will be dearly missed and forever in our hearts.

Her funeral service will be held at Jeter Memorial Funeral Home, 311 N Friendswood Dr., Friendswood, TX 77546 (281) 992-7200, on Friday, June 9, 2023 at 9:00 A.M. and her burial will be at the VA National Cemetery in Houston, TX on Monday, June 12, 2023. She will be laid to rest atop our late dad. He always joked my mom would talk his “ear off” for all eternity. It will be a closed service and burial to just family and her close friends.

Flowers and donations to the VA Hospital in her name are welcome.