Richard L. Carroll

On 10 August 1924 Richard Lee Carroll, was born to Carlisle and Lelah Carroll. At the young age of 16 he walked away from Dennison, Texas, to begin his education at the North Texas Agricultural College in Arlington, Texas, where his inquisitive nature led him to Engineering.

Within a year World War Two began and Richard joined the Army Corp of Engineers; first serving in the state of Washington where he helped lay out the grid for the Hanford Nuclear Facility and later transferring to the Aleutian Islands in Alaska.

After the war, Richard returned to the state that would remain his home: Washington. He soon met his lifelong bride Betty Jane Carroll and raised six children. He also began his career as an engineer with the Washington State Department of Transportation. First working out of Wenatchee on State Highway 2 and later in the Seattle and Vancouver offices, Richard was a driving force behind the early transportation infrastructure in the state. Richard never retired from working. He founded Carroll Engineering management and also worked for several years with the Federal Emergency Management Administration. In this role he was onsite helping victims of natural disasters around the world. His perpetual “We can get this done” attitude left little room for anything short of success in all of his endeavors.

Beyond all of his professional accomplishments Richard was a renaissance man constantly in search of knowledge, skills, and information. At various times he was an accomplished arborist, an avid hunter, an amateur archeologist and an aspiring writer. He built a house with his own hands and surrounded it with a successful orchard. He became certified as a scuba diver and dove in many places around the world. Even into his eighties he was an aggressive race walker and won or placed in his age group as a competitor in marathons and half marathons. Genealogy was another of his passions. He researched and documented the family through several centuries. This task was augmented by Richards’s insatiable desire to read and rediscover history. Richard was always available to help those in need. He acted as the President of the National Hospital Association and travelled to Peru and Guatemala to build clinics with Medical Teams International. But perhaps his greatest passion was his children.

He is survived by his six children, Judy Sunshine, Joan Bernard, Eugene, Jo Meints (Tom), James (Ginny), and Bart Carroll (Kathy). He was the proud grandfather of 15 grandchildren, 14 great-grandchildren, and 3 great-great grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by Betty, his wife of 63 years, his parents Carlisle and Lelah, his sister Patsy, and his brother Harry.

A life celebration memorial service will be held at the First United Methodist Church, Vancouver at 1 PM Sunday, 10 August 2014. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to PeaceHealth Southwest Foundation, the Methodist Church Foundation, or a charity of choice.