Mary Carolyn O'Quinn

Mary Carolyn O’Quinn was a bright and thoughtful mother, daughter, sister, friend and follower of Christ. Carolyn was born in Houston, Texas to Carroll and Evelyn Hudson and had one brother, Jim Hudson, who predeceased her in April 2023. The family spent their early years in Houston’s Park Place neighborhood and eventually moved to Spring Branch, where she graduated high school. Carolyn went on to graduate from the University of Houston in 1964 with a bachelor's degree in music, a love that endured throughout her entire life. During high school and college she sang soprano in a variety of show choirs, played many classical piano recitals, and even traveled in the summer of 1963 with the USO to entertain the troops overseas. Over her years, she never turned down tickets to see musical theater productions and especially enjoyed classical piano played by her beloved son-in-law Steven Hill in her later years.

She married Michael Robert O’Quinn in 1964 and together they had one daughter, Laura, in 1969. While their marriage did not last, Carolyn rose to meet the challenge of single-handedly raising her daughter and working hard to provide a loving, stable home and a good education for Laura. They joined a wonderful church in the early 1980s, Spring Branch Community Church, and she became enfolded in the community of saints who supported, prayed for, and discipled her through her years of parenting and beyond. It was there she learned to live fully into the freedom the grace of Christ offers. She became a close student of the human personality and temperaments and counseled everyone she met to lean into their natural giftings to become who God made them to be – nothing more and nothing less.

After working many years for her father, who was a furniture business owner/executive, Carolyn decided to follow her calling to help others and go back to school. After much hard work and sacrifice, she earned her Masters in Social Work from the University of Houston in 1989 – one of her greatest accomplishments in life. She went on to work in a variety of mental health care and hospital settings, and ultimately spent more than 15 years as an emergency room social worker for the Memorial Hermann Hospital system in Houston.

In 2012 she moved to Falls Church to live with Laura and Steven and her 3 grandchildren, Emma (21), Nora (19) and Nate (17). She loved spending time with her grandkids, proudly watching them explore their creative endeavors and being a prayerful presence in their lives. Carolyn passed away on December 23, 2023, in Falls Church, Virginia after a long battle with vascular dementia. Her joy for life, keen sense of humor, welcoming demeanor, and eternal perspective will be missed greatly by all who knew her.

Funeral services will be held in the sanctuary at The Falls Church Anglican on Wednesday, January 10, 2024 @ 2 p.m. with a reception to follow. The inurnment will occur at a later date in Houston, Texas.