Very few people touch our lives in a manner that we know we will never be the same again. Dr. William Carroll Ph.D. was such a man. Years ago when we moved back to the Hampton Roads area my friend Kelly told me about the church she belonged too. I remembered how in the past we had talked about how we would never go to a church due to our different not so nice experiences. A few months later, I met a bunch of her friends at a party at her house, and I really liked them. I started going to the Unitarian Universalist Church of Norfolk sometime after that in 2002 and the very first time that I was there, I was a approached by Dr Bill. I knew his name because he always had his name tag on. During that first year going to UCN I found that although the people were friendly the social hour after the service was pretty lonely, except for Dr Bill who always took the time to talk to me and my kids and made us feel welcome. Eventually, I made my own group of friends joined the church and we became regulars. Dr Bill was a fixture at all the gatherings, meetings, Sunday services and 4th of July picnics. He continued to make friends and make every new member of our congregation feel welcome. You can even see his back in the home page of our website. During Sunday services sometimes he brought his tambourine and brought life to our other wise quiet music. During services you could always hear his unique laugh and looking back the feeling of belonging was drawn deeper in our hearts.
I don't think that I know much of Dr Bill's life. I know that he was a published and prize-winning author. I know that countless UCN homes shared in his bounty of daffodils as he once asked the congregation who had some of them, and a third of the congregation raised their hands. I was envious that day as I did not have some of his flowers, I figured, I would get some next time he offered, and I am so sad that there will never be a next time. I know that he had been married for decades to his beautiful bride Thelma and had children.
What I know about Dr William Carroll Ph.D is that he touched my heart and my children's hearts, that he made me always feel special and important, his hugs made me feel warm and loved, but most importantly I know that he made every one else that touched his path feel this way... Special, important and loved. Dr Bill you will always be in our hearts, Special Important and Very Loved.
The memorial service for Bill Carroll will be held on Saturday, April 10, 2010 at 2:30 pm. Because Bill was so widely loved and respected, the service will be held at Norfolk State University, the L. Douglas Wilder Performing Arts Center, where Bill was a Professor for many years. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his name to the Endowment fund of the Unitarian Church of Norfolk.
In honor of Dr William (Bill) Carroll P.h.D. was first published on Hampton Roads Real Estate VoiceCopyright © 2010 By Tere Rottink, All Rights Reserved.
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