Carol Carr Seeley had the kind of bold, blue eyes that could make a man do anything, even jump ship.
It was 1946. She and James Seeley had only been married for a month, but as his ship chugged through the Panama Canal, the Merchant Marine veteran was driven overboard by an undeniable desire to see Carol.
"He missed her so much, he jumped ship and caught the first plane home," said Carol's granddaughter, Jacqueline Mitchell Johnsen.
Now it's Carol's turn to fly home to her husband of 52 years, who died in 1998.
Carol died of natural causes Tuesday at her house in the Plaza area of Long Beach. She was 89.
Carol was born Sept. 26, 1914, in Hurley, a tiny town in South Dakota that she left as soon as she could. Her first stop was Sioux Falls, where she attended secretarial school and became a charter member of the Alpha chapter of Beta Sigma Phi sorority.
Her next stop was a little farther down the line. In 1941, Carol and a girlfriend boarded a train for California. When they arrived in Los Angeles, the intrepid duo didn't know a soul or even have a place to stay. "She definitely had a sense of adventure."
Carol met James five years later, while both were working at the port. He asked her out to a hockey game. Six weeks later, they were married.
"The date worked out pretty good," Carol told the Press-Telegram in 1998. In 1954, Carol and James bought the house she would live in for the rest of her life. Over the next 50 years, Carol welcomed countless guests into home with Midwestern hospitality. Regular visitors knew that the small refrigerator in the den was always stocked with Pepsi-Colas.
Blessed with a sharp mind, Carol read voraciously and enjoyed solving crossword puzzles. "She used to do the Press-Telegram and Los Angeles Times crossword puzzles every day. She was ridiculously smart," Johnsen said.
Carol is survived by a daughter, Jean Whelan of London; two granddaughters, Jacqueline Mitchell Johnsen of Long Beach and Yvonne Whelan of London; a grandson, Eric Mitchell of Portland, Ore.; a nephew, William Coffey of Ventura; three great-nieces; one great-nephew; and seven great-great-nieces and nephews.
A private memorial service will be this afternoon at her home. In lieu of flowers, Carol's family request that donations be made in her name to the American Heart Association or the American Cancer Society.
SEELEY, Carol (CARR); 89; CA; Long Beach P-T; 2004-5-8
[Wife of grandson of SGS # 2981 – James Edward Jr.; James Edward; James M. (# 2981); James Marcellus/Merseilles (# 1219); David; Enos; David; John; Nathaniel; Robert]
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