Carol Ann Waller

Carol Ann Waller, 78, a 50 year resident of Irvine, California, passed away peacefully on February 27, 2022, attended by her daughter, Kristen L. Toumajian and her husband of 50 years, Ronald L. Waller.

She was born on December 15, 1943, in Bedford Indiana, to parents Rudolph (Rudy) Raymond and Ada M. Richardson.

Carol was a good student. She was determined to go to college, despite the initial reservations of her parents, and she would be the first in her family to do so. Her parents agreed to pay her room and board if she could pay for the rest. Carol worked throughout college, and she graduated from Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana with her Bachelor of Science degree in June,1966. She soon went to work for a national firm in Indianapolis and became the first professional female to work there.

A year later, Carol packed up her most prized possession - a yellow Pontiac Lemans convertible - and moved to southern California with three girlfriends who were moving to new teaching jobs. Carol went to work at an accounting firm in Santa Ana, specializing in tax and trust accounting. She earned her Certified Public Accountant certificate in 1971, the same year she was married. She went on to receive her Masters Degree in Business Taxation from the University of Southern California's School of Business Administration in September, 1976, while caring for her newborn daughter, born in 1975.

Though she loved her career as a CPA and would work at a variety of firms, Carol was also a very active part of her community, volunteering for a variety of organizations, including her daughter Kristen's school and PTA, National Charity League, her church, Girl Scouts, and Junior Ebell. This included playing Bridge with a group of friends for over twenty years. The ladies would meet monthly at one of their homes, catching up with each other, and passing on news about children and grandchildren. A few of the group changed over the years, but these ladies became some of Carol's lifetime friends.

Carol and Ron enjoyed traveling. They often visited Hawaii, and in later years enjoyed vacations in Maui with their daughter's family: her husband Christopher, and their children, Olivia and Jonathan. Carol loved planning for those trips and others that would take Carol and Ron throughout the country, as well as on cruises and other vacations to Europe, especially her favorite destinations - London and France. Carol was most happy enjoying "high tea" in London, visiting a Monet exhibit in Paris or enjoying a beautiful farm-to-table meal at a farmhouse in Provence. Carol was a talented scrapbooker, and her family always enjoyed poring over the albums she so loved doing to document family travels. She also loved expressing her creativity through cross-stitch, cooking for her family, and baking, especially during the holidays.

Family was the most important part of Carol's life. She would often travel back to Indiana to see relatives there and "get back to her roots". She was always grateful to spend so much time with her aunt and California cousins, especially Thanksgiving, her favorite holiday. In recent years, Carol's greatest joy was spending time with her grandchildren. Carol was a fantastic and generous grandmother: she played with them, built gingerbread houses with them, cooked with them, learned from them and was their greatest cheerleader. She was so proud of them, and showered them with love. They made her happiest.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.pacificviewcalifornia.com for the Waller family.