Carol J. Porter

Carol was born on October 11, 1933 in Miami, Oklahoma, to Tom and Jeanette Able. She spent her early life in the country and went to school in one-room schoolhouses with very few students. She met Norman, her husband of 53 years, when she was 5 and he was 6!

She graduated as the Salutatorian from Wyandotte High School in 1950 at 16 years old, and entered Northeastern A&M Junior College, graduating as Valedictorian, with an Associate of Arts degree in 1952. She then finished her college studies at Oklahoma State University with a Bachelor of Arts in 1954. There she was a member of Phi Kappa Phi. She also earned a Masters degree in Education from Stephen F. Austin University in 1979.

Carol began her career as a teacher, Student Council Sponsor and Department Chairman in the Tulsa, Oklahoma public schools in 1954. In 1957, she married her childhood sweetheart, Norman Eugene Porter. They both attended classes at the University of Tulsa. They welcomed their first son, David, in 1960, on Carol’s birthday, October 11.

After Norman graduated from Tulsa with a petroleum engineering degree, his career took the family to Houston, then to Corpus Christi, TX, where their second son, Greg, was born in 1963. For the next 10 years, the family moved between Corpus Christi, New Orleans, LA, and Lafayette, LA, before finally settling in Kingwood, TX in 1974. Carol continued to teach in junior high and high schools in all of those places.

During her career in Humber ISD, Carol served as both an Assistant and Associate Principal at Humble High School, Curriculum Coordinator for Fine Arts and the Gifted/Talented Program and Director of Special Populations, a position she held until her retirement in 1995.

Carol was an outstanding, organized, creative teacher and administrator, earning the love and respect from her co-workers as well as her students. She initiated and improved many programs during her career in Humble ISD, but her greatest joy was time spent with her family and friends. She and Norman were the epitome of “great” grandparents. They loved their 5 grandsons with a fierce passion and never missed a chance to spend time with them, whether it be at family reunions at Lake Tenkiller in Oklahoma, at their home in Kingwood or visiting their son’s homes in Dallas and New Braunfels. Carol continued her teaching with her grandsons, sharing many life lessons. She always made the lessons fun and she often joined them on the floor to participate in any game they had going. Her oldest grandson, Payton, never wanted to come home after spending 2 weeks at Nana and Papa’s house! As the boys got older, Carol introduced them to the theatre and museums, always being sure they were dressed like “little men” and acted appropriately. Carol and Norman followed them to their endless sporting events and activities, wherever they were playing.

And Carol could whip up a meal, for the entire neighborhood, in a jiffy! Family favorites were chicken fried steak with cream gravy and hamburger gravy for breakfast. If you didn’t go back for seconds, it was an insult! Norman always said that if Carol had been in the desert, she could find something to make a meal.

Carol’s wicked sense of humor, coupled with her intelligence, always made for a lively conversation. Though she suffered with health issues most of her life, the most debilitating being a diabetes diagnosis at 40 years old, you’d never know it. She was always positive, determined, dressed to the nines and up for an adventure. During their retirement years, she and Norman travelled to Alaska, British Columbia, even a safari in South Africa with David and Greg! She and her daughter-in-law, Gayle, attended a close family friend’s wedding in northern Italy and experienced Carnivale in Venice.

Carol cherished the many friendships she cultivated over the 46 years they lived in Kingwood. She was active in many community organizations and, not surprisingly, held leadership roles in most of them. She kept us posted about her wonderful neighbors, her Circle, PEO, Lunch Bunch, Retired Teachers Association and her church friends from the First Presbyterian Church of Kingwood. She was a faithful prayer warrior, an excellent listener and never missed a birthday. Even after Norman passed away in 2011, she never considered leaving her home in Kingwood, as she felt so comfortable and loved by her friends there. We are eternally grateful for the love and care that all of you showed Carol while she lived among you.

Carol was preceded in death by her parents and her husband, Norman. She is survived by her sons, David (wife, Gayle) and Greg (wife, Kristen), five grandsons, Payton, Grayson, Chase, Zachary and Paxton, and one great granddaughter, Landon.

You won’t be surprised to know that she has listed specific instructions for her memorial service. She asked that instead of flowers for her service, please consider donations to either the Humble Area Retired Teachers Association or the First Presbyterian Church of Kingwood.

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