Carol A. Ford, 84, of Paris, passed away Friday, February 17, 2023, at her daughter’s residence in Garfield Township in Newaygo.

She was born July 6, 1938, in Chicago, IL, the youngest daughter of two to Clifford and Rose (Fehrenkamp) Olson. When Carol was in the eighth grade her family moved from Chicago to Phoenix, AZ. Her parents owned and operated a restaurant in Phoenix and instead of attending school she helped her parents in the restaurant.   

It was on her 16^th birthday when her parents took her to the Riverside dance hall in Phoenix where Carol met her husband to be, Richard “Dick” Ford, who was in the US Air Force. They had 65 years of a wonderful marriage after marrying on May 26, 1956, in Reed City. After Dick’s passing at the end of 2021, she moved in with her daughter as she had advanced dementia and couldn’t care for herself.

Carol was a great cook in her day. Dick, Tom, and Peggy were blessed with her delicious meals. She loved animals and had all of the following in her lifetime; horses, cows, chickens, rabbits, dogs, cats, ducks, guinea hens, guinea pigs, parakeets, and tropical fish, Carol had a green thumb and had house plants as well as her outdoor flower gardens. She loved arts and crafts, and was very good at it, loved dolls, and children. When her children were young, she was a 4-H Leader. After the children were raised, she did a lot of babysitting, and was a Sunday school teacher. Most of all Carol loved her children and grandchildren with all her heart.

Left to cherish her memory are her children, Peggy (Wayne) Deuling of Newaygo, and Thomas (Anastasia) Ford of Jal, NM; grandchildren Corey (Mallory) Ford of Bitley, Dallas Ford of Ypsilant, Amanda (Andrew) Parker of Muskegon, and Samuel Deuling of Newaygo; great grandson Colton Ford; and great granddaughter Margaret Parker. Carol was also preceded in death by her infant son Steven in 1959, her parents, her sister Joan (Olson) Forgue, and sister-in-law Carol Ann (Ford) Fralick

Memorial services will be 1:00 p.m., Saturday, March 4, 2023, at the Mohnke Funeral Home in Big Rapids.  Please come and share your memory of Carol.  Carol’s family will greet friends at the funeral home beginning at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday. She will be laid to rest next to Dick in the Woodland Cemetery in Reed City. Share a memory or express condolences at www.mohnkefuneralhome.com.