Canty, Carol Clark
Carol Jeanette Canty, 93, who loved to spend the holidays with her family, willed herself through one more Christmas before passing peacefully in her sleep on Dec. 27.
Born in Battle Creek, Mich., on Sept. 13, 1930, to J S Clark and Nellie (Donovan) Clark, Carol was working in a music store when she met her future husband, William S. Canty, Jr. of Decatur, Ill., an ex-Marine who was assigned to Michigan as an air traffic controller. They wed on Nov. 24, 1951, and lived successively in Detroit and Ann Arbor (Mich.), Hinsdale (Ill.), and Sterling (Va.), before moving to Pulaski in 2012 to be closer to most of their five children.
Despite a near-fatal battle with bacterial meningitis at age 62, Carol bounced back through years of rehabilitation and lived to the fullest for another three decades, eventually outliving her dear husband Bill by more than ten years.
She is survived in Pulaski by daughter and son-in-law Deborah and Daniel Grubb, who lovingly attended to her during her later years, and elsewhere by her other children: William S. (“Chip”) Canty III, of Boston, Mass.; Eileen (and Kenny) Coleman, of Olmstead, Ky.; Greg (and Lynn) Canty, of Johns Creek, Ga.; and Carla (and Richard) Scott, of Bent Mountain, Va. She is also survived by several grandchildren, step-grandchildren, and foster grandchildren, and their spouses and children: Jennifer Canty and Tanner Lostan (and daughter Leona), Son and Nancy Ngo (and children Samuel, Phoebe and Priscilla), Bradley and Linde Grubb, Ryan and Erin Coleman (and children Carlea, Harrison and Sawyer), Kelly Chapman (and children Sam and Max), William Alexander (“Alex”) and Samantha Canty, Richard Benjamin (“Ben”) Canty, Kendall Scott, and Kemper Scott. Besides her husband, she was predeceased by beloved grandson Gregory Canty.
The family also gives special thanks to Carol’s devoted caregivers over the past several years – Laura, Pauline, Lori, Connie, and Wendy – who sat with her through countless Hallmark movies and Virginia Cavaliers basketball games. A longtime and devoted fan of the Baltimore Orioles, she was finally rewarded with a winning season and the promise it brings of future championships. A mostly self-taught pianist who instilled in her offspring a love of music and the arts, Carol was often happiest when singing with members of her family or watching them perform.
A memorial ceremony will be held at the Seagle Funeral Home on Saturday, Dec. 30 at 2:00 p.m., with public visitation starting at 1:00. She will be laid to rest with her late husband Bill at the Southwest Virginia Veterans Cemetery in Dublin.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests contributions to the scholarship fund established in honor of Carol’s late grandson, Gregory, at the University of Virginia School of Engineering and Applied Science (Allocation #94073 in memory of Gregory Canty, account #VDR29218, PO Box 37963, Boone, IA 50037).
