Mrs. Carol Rosemary Harper Abilez, age 86, of McMinnville, TN, died Saturday, December 30, 2023, at her residence. She was born December 25, 1937, in Essex, England and was raised there, was a retired secretary with Harper & Company, and a member of the Upper Room Fellowship Church. Carol met and married the father of her five children Bill Harper. He was a M.P. in the U.S. Air Force stationed close to her home in Essex, England. She came to the U.S. in July of 1955 when she was only 17 years old – a new country, a new culture, plus much hotter temperatures.
Survivors include her children Billy Harper, Rosemary Greene, Gina (Kent) Starkey, and Cindy Zimmerman, a brother Malcolm Osborne, and many grandchildren and great grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband of five children Bill Harper, son Gregory Randall Harper, parents Alec and Mabel Osborne, brother Richard Osborne, and sister Rita Berberich.
Funeral service will be held at 1:00 P.M. on Tuesday, January 02, 2024 in the McMinnville Funeral Home Chapel. Donald Vinson will officiate. Interment will follow at Smyrna Cemetery. The Harper Family will receive friends on Tuesday from 12:00 P.M. Noon until 1:00 P.M. at the McMinnville Funeral Home Chapel.
