Carol Elizabeth Carlson Waldon's Obituary
Carol Elizabeth (Carlson) Waldon was born January 4, 1938, and died March 27, 2026, at the age of 88. A beautiful life happened in between.
Carol Waldon went to her Lord peacefully while napping at her home. She was born in Houston, TX to Hilmer and Grace Carlson and was the eldest of four sisters. She enjoyed her childhood in Elgin, TX and loved to tell stories about that time in her life. Her parents moved to Dallas when she was still a young girl of 10 where she continued to grow up, graduating from Woodrow Wilson High School in 1956.
Carol impacted 100s of lives with her joyful and hospitable spirit through the years, even up until her last day; she was in the habit of offering visitors a glass of wine! Those most impacted by her were her family, who became what they are in large part because of her. Her children, David, Steve, Jon, Jerry, and Elizabeth and their spouses were cherished by her and their love for her was evident. Her husband, Gerry, was the light of her life; she always doted on him to those who visited as “a gooood man!”. The loving couple just celebrated 58 wonderful years of marriage filled with adventures and great memories.
Her creative side was fed by her love of her family, often crafting memories, knitting Christmas-stocking-heirlooms, and other crafts and keepsakes that her entire family has memories of. She was also able to travel the world with her husband upon retirement but also made travel memories with her kids when they were little with trips to the beach, the lake, camping, and river rafting trips. She was also keenly interested in her heritage. So much so that she served as her chapter’s president of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas and researched her family’s genealogy all the way back to the 13th century. It was not unusual for her to visit cemeteries during her travels to get pictures of distant relatives’ grave markers. She read 1000s of books in her lifetime that contributed to her immense vocabulary and gave her the gift of conversation; she never met a stranger and told everyone about her family.
Carol was preceded in death by her first son, David Tacker, her parents Hilmer and Grace, and her sister Kay (Carlson) Barron. She is survived by her husband, Gerald Waldon, their children and their spouses, Steve and Mary (Schoppe) Tacker, Jon and Linh (Cole) Tacker, Jerry and Melissa (Gutierrez) Waldon, and Brad and Elizabeth (Waldon) Yearwood; her 10 grandchildren, Chrystal, Grace, Kylie, David, Emily, Cole, Andrew, Sarah, Laura, and Becca and 4 great-grandchildren, June, Julian, Ember, and Graham. She is also survived by her sisters, Glenda (Carlson) Piner, and Cathy (Carlson) Bradshaw and their families.
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