Carolyn Frances Block Billings, 87, died of natural causes, March 17, 2024. She is preceded in death by her husband, Wayne Lee Billings, and her parents, Frank Conway Block and Caroline Marie Landry Block. She is survived by her three sons, Tom (Denise) of Oak Ridge, TN, Paul (Annette) of Nashville, TN, and David (Ilsa) of Ashland City, TN; sister, Irene Block Shapard (Bentley) of Austin, TX; and several cousins, nieces, and nephews.
Carolyn graduated as Salutatorian from Holy Name of Jesus High School in New Orleans, LA in 1954. In 1958, she was a magna cum laude, Delta Epsilon Sigma graduate from Maryville College of the Sacred Heart in Saint Louis, MO, where she received the Advisory Board Scholarship Award, the Mother Gertrude Caraher Poetry Award, and the Mother Spalding Young English Award. She was then awarded a Woodrow Wilson fellowship at Stanford to work on a masters in English.
While in Palo Alto she met the love of her life, Wayne, who also shared a passion for knowledge and learning. They moved to Amherst, Massachusetts for a short while and then settled in Nashville.
Carolyn taught for seven years at West End United Methodist Church’s Day School Center prior to being appointed director in 1979. She was known for her concern for the well-being of children and her ability to work with them and their parents in a caring, creative way. Later in life, she worked as a daycare teacher at Belle Meade United Methodist Church and led the Children’s House Montessori kindergarten club.
In the early 1970s and 1980s, Carolyn’s concern for better quality early childhood education led her to advocate in the political arena at the local and state levels. She volunteered with the Tennessee Association for the Education of Young Children and served as advocacy committee co-chair.
Visitation will take place at 9 am with a eulogy at 9:45 am, followed by a Funeral Mass at 10 am on Friday, the 12th of April, at Christ the King Church, 3001 Belmont Boulevard, Nashville, TN 37212.
Honoring Carolyn’s wishes, her body was cremated; ashes will be conveyed to a cherished woodland place. In lieu of flowers, memorials in her memory may be directed to Christ the King Church or The Nature Conservancy in Tennessee. Arrangements by: WOODLAWN-ROESCH-PATTON FUNERAL HOME, 660 Thompson Lane, Nashville, TN 37204; (615) 383-4754.
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