Carol Louise Shore

Carol Louise Shore was born on September 3rd, 1941 in Woodlake, Ca and left to be with the Lord on September 27th, 2022 in Visalia Ca at the age of 81. Carol was born to Blacky and Daisy Gannaway, and was the older sister to Kent and Kathy Gannaway. Carol went to school where she grew up in the small town of Woodlake, Ca.

Carol met and married Clifford Russell Havens and soon brought their first child into the world, David in 1958. The year following came Mark, the year after that came Lori, and then 3 years later came along little Linda. The big family of 6 resided in central California for some years, and then made the big move to Arkansas for a few years. In Arkansas, Carol worked a variety of jobs, one being training in respiratory therapy.

Carol was one of the hardest working people we all knew. When the kids were small there were points in time that she worked 3 jobs at once. When the children grew older, she went after her dream of becoming a nurse. While she was going through the nursing program she worked nights as a respiratory therapist at the Exeter hospital. As soon as Carol graduated as an LVN from Porterville College, she became a full time nurse at the Exeter hospital. She was a nurse for about 40 years and retired in 2006 from Pleasant Valley in Coalinga.

Well after Clifford was gone, and in the early 2000’s, Carol met Carl. Carl was her happily ever after. Their first time meeting was at Mearl’s Drive In. They hit it off and married later in 2005. They lived in a beautiful home in North Visalia. It became our entire family’s designated gathering spot for holidays and such. The 2 of them lived a wonderful retired life together where they would enjoy spending time shopping, dreaming, and of course playing Yahtzee. Carl took extraordinary care of her.

Carol loved and enjoyed having all of her family at their home to spend quality time with. She really did have a love for life. “Mema” as us grandchildren called her, was known for renting bounce houses for every holiday, and making white cake from scratch. In her younger days she enjoyed taking us all fishing. Carol enjoyed nature of all kinds, and had a special love for cats.

In September of 2016, the day before her 75th birthday, Carol suffered a massive stroke and was saved by Community Regional Hospital in Fresno, Ca. She was later transferred to Westgate Gardens in Visalia Ca, where she spent the remainder of her life. Our entire family can’t express in words the gratitude we feel towards the staff at Westgate that cared for our Mema. We will always remember what you did for her, and will be forever thankful. We also would like to especially thank Seva Hospice. The comfort care that you provided was amazing. Your staff really made the process comfortable and peaceful for her, and her loved ones.

Mema is survived by her sister Kathy Gannaway, her 4 children, David Havens (Kendall Havens), Mark Havens, Lori Scheer, Linda Thompson; her grandchildren Jill Fitzgerald, Justin Nugent, Shane Scheer, Kelsey Nugent, Chad Havens, Karina Scheer; her great grandchildren Tyler Zelenka, Maddox Nugent, Ava Nugent, Landon Castaneda, Warner Scheer, Leo Perez , and Lola Nugent.

On behalf of our whole family, we appreciate all that have reached out to send their thoughts, prayers, hugs and condolences. She sure was an amazing lady. We know that she is now an amazing angel in Heaven with Jesus.