Carolyn C. Weller Nation Barron, 78, of Evansville, Ind., died on Thursday, Jan. 7, 2021, in the Linda E. White Hospice House in Evansville after a long fight with breast cancer.
She was born to the late Ida H. and A. Wayne Weller on March 8, 1942 in Evansville. She graduated from Central High School in 1960, and received a bachelor’s of arts degree from the University of Evansville in 1964.
She is survived by her husband Joseph H. Barron of Evansville, daughters Elizabeth A. Tandy of Panama City Beach, Fla., and Susannah J. Nation of Novato, Calif., grandson Jakob W. Tandy of Eugene, Ore., granddaughters Samantha C. Tandy of Navarre, Fla., and Fiona E. Hall of Novato, Calif., brother Anthony W. Weller of Newburgh, and sister (Sylvia) Ann Richardson of Newburgh, along with several nieces and nephews.
Carolyn and her first husband, William W. Nation, Jr., (deceased 1987) owned and ran the coffee house/dinner theater “Midway on the Oneway” in Newburgh in the 1960s.
A nature lover and avid bird watcher, Carolyn was a regular participant in the annual Indiana Audubon Society’s Christmas Bird Count. A pair of binoculars were always within reach, whether driving on the Evansville backroads (safety be damned), or visiting her daughters in Florida and California. One day her daughter came home from grade school to find Carolyn had constructed, on her own, a ceiling-to-floor aviary in the family’s den. She kept all manners of finches, canaries, painted quail, parakeets, and parrots. In fact, Carolyn donated Mesker Park Zoo’s first painted quails, the descendants of which are still on exhibit.
Carolyn became a Master Gardener in the 1990s, and spent the last 30 years transforming her 5-acre property in St. Wendel, Ind., into a registered wildlife habitat and blissful outdoor retreat.
Carolyn worked for Vanderburgh County as a social worker for most of her career. Then in 1993, she enrolled at the University of Southern Indiana, where she obtained her teaching license. She began teaching freshman and sophomore English at the Henry Reis Education Center alternative high school in Evansville, where she worked until she retired in 20 … ?
Carolyn was an animal lover to her core, and adopted innumerable cats, dogs, birds, horses, chickens, ducks, and geese in her lifetime. She leaves behind her current flock, dog Max, and cats Rasputin, Miss Priss, and Tinkerbell.
A memorial service will be scheduled in Evansville at a later date, when it is safe to travel. In lieu of flowers, the family humbly requests donations be made to the Vanderburgh Humane Society in Carolyn’s name (vhslifesaver.org).
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