Captola Foster Carson, 91, wife of the late T.J. Carson, died April 23, 2015, at home among family. She was born in Paragould, Arkansas, on Nov. 2, 1923, to the late Leslie Wallis and Lydia Adele (Fitzgerald) Foster.
Captola grew up in Osceola, Arkansas, married T.J., of Jonesboro, in 1943, and accompanied him to Sherman, Texas, where he was stationed as a sergeant, U.S. Army Air Corps. After T.J. returned from World War II in Europe in 1945, the now family of three settled in Iron City, Tennessee, where they owned and operated Carson Bros. Handle Co. Their penultimate move with a second son was in 1951 to the next town down the road, St. Joseph. In 1959, the family and the company moved to Florence where T.J. and Captola were longtime members of First United Methodist Church and the Florence Country Club; wherein, at the time of the club’s closure, she was the longest serving member.
In her final years, Captola’s interests included bridge (and more bridge) the grand and great-grandkids, her Friday wine and cheese parties at Merrill Gardens, and cheering on the football team of her two sons’ alma mater, the Alabama Crimson Tide.
She is survived by a son, Thomas J. Carson Jr. (wife, Joan), of Little Compton, Rhode Island; a grandson, Samuel B. Carson, of West Hollywood, California; three granddaughters, Sarah Jennifer Thompson (husband, Tommy), of Florence, Virginia L. Carson (husband, Scott Wilford), of Nashville, and Rachel A. Carson, of Lakeville, Minnesota; and eight great-grandchildren.
She was predeceased by her younger son, Richard W. Carson (wife, Sherry, now of Tuscumbia); a granddaughter, Sidney M. Cox; two brothers, Leslie Edward Foster (wife, Doreen, of Huntsville), and Robert C. Foster; a sister, Anna Jean Hart (husband, James, of Osceola; and stepmother, Myra Pendergrast Foster.
A private interment service was held at the Carson family plot in Greenview Memorial Cemetery on April 28.
Arrangements by Greenview Funeral Home.
