Carolyn Parris

January 21, 1942 – December 10, 2018

Caroline Rolande Parris, age 76, departed from this world to meet her Savior on Monday, December 10th. She was born in Falmouth, MA on January 21, 1942, to Dr. Roland Parris, and his wife Myrtle (Handy) Parris. She lived in there until her mother’s death when she was 11. She and her father moved to Arizona. When he passed away 3 years later, she moved to Natick and lived with her brother Richard and his family. Graduating from Natick High School, she went on to graduate with a BA in philosophy from Tufts University where Dr. Birch taught her that the “primary purpose of education was to see through propaganda.” She pursued graduate work at the University of Hawaii and the University of Minnesota. 

As a dedicated single parent, she raised her children in northern CA. Simone Parris (50) and Culley Parris (40) survive her. She was a lay midwife, RN, NFPP, masseuse, and lover of things complicated and beautiful. She was very proud of shepherding nearly a thousand babies into the world in home births. A dedicated follower of Jesus starting in the late 70’s, she followed him from the Protestant to the Catholic Church (A tribute to the nuns who implanted the Word in her during her turbulent youth). She returned to Falmouth (a lifelong desire) with Culley in 1992, where she lived until 2013. 

She joined Culley in Spokane, WA when the signs of dementia were making independent living difficult and living overseas with Simone sounded like too much. The loss of her faculties was difficult for this cerebral woman who was so proud of her ability to reason. But it was also the release of many wounds, which ultimately made her wonderful at giving and receiving affection with her family in a new way that was free of the shadow of past disappointments. Her family and friends miss her but rejoice that she is receiving the fruition of her hopes with her Creator.