Carlese Smith Carroll, 63, of Fitzgerald, Georgia, died Saturday, May 2, 2020, at Tift Regional Medical Center in Tifton.
Private graveside services will be held.
Mrs. Carroll was born May 27, 1956, in Fitzgerald, Georgia, to the late Lester Leon & Myra Mae Riddle Smith. She was a paraprofessional and school bus driver for 28 years for the Ben Hill County Board of Education. She enjoyed music and dancing and loved to sew, handmaking over 100 masks recently for friends and family. She enjoyed photography and preferred to be behind the camera. An avid reader, she wrote devotions and poems that will be cherished. She dearly loved her family and was a devoted wife, mother, and Nana-Ba-Fana. Carlese had a wonderful sense of humor and loved hearing and sharing jokes. She is perhaps most known for being a source of information for happenings in the community. She was an uplifting presence on Facebook, a dedicated Purple Hurricane fan, and will certainly be missed by all who knew her. She was a supportive friend and was always willing to lend a hand to anyone in need. A longtime member of Bethlehem Baptist Church, she was very active in all the ministries of the church and currently served as song leader.
She is survived by her husband of 40 years, Andy Carroll of Fitzgerald; children: Michael Shealey of Abbeville, Leslie Clark & Ricky of Abbeville, Allison Adams of Savannah, and Andy Carroll & Sherry of Ocilla; grandchildren: Tyler Carroll, Reagan Shealey, Riley Shealey, Ashton Sumner, Aydan Adams, Aubree Dell Clark, and Trace Carroll; a great-granddaughter, Kynslee Grace Carroll; siblings: Joyce Paul of Fitzgerald, Jane Smith of Roundup, Montana, Henry Smith & Eve of Munsford, Tennessee, and Ronnie Smith of Cordele. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by two brothers: Tommy Smith and Donnie Smith.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests those desiring to send memorials may send them to the family to assist with expenses.