Carolyn Marie (Westover) Hammack

Details

Category: Obituaries

Created on Wednesday, 19 March 2014 12:35

Hits: 15159

A celebration of life memorial for Carolyn Marie (Westover) Hammack has been scheduled for 3 p.m. Thursday, March 27, 2014, in Harrigan Centennial Hall. Pastor Bob Benton will officiate.
Carolyn, 64, passed away peacefully on March 5, 2014, at Banner Del Webb Hospital in Sun City West, Ariz., after a brief but serious illness. She and her husband Ray were motor-homing in the area at the time.
Carolyn was born July 9, 1949, in Sitka to Stanley and Mardelle Westover. She was the oldest of three siblings that included sister Cheryl and brother Rick.
She attended kindergarten through high school in Sitka, graduating from Sitka High in 1967. Afterward, she stayed in touch with many of her classmates and took a lead role in planning their class reunions.
The family grocery business was always a major part of Carolyn’s life. At a very early age, she and little sister Cheryl would head to Gram Vi’s grocery store (The Hut) to work. Carolyn’s job was to move dust from one stack of cans to another with her trusty feather duster – not a bad job for 25 cents an hour.
In 1960, her father Stan bought the business from Gram and moved it to the lower portion of the Masonic Lodge building by Swan Lake, renaming the business Lakeside Grocery. Carolyn and Cheryl loved helping Dad at the store, (but not so much Rick), when they weren’t busy with school and play.
Stanley Westover died in a hunting-boating accident in 1961, leaving Mardelle with three young children and a grocery store. Sitkans rallied around the family and helped keep The Biggest Little Store in Town going.
When Carolyn was in her teens, she took a more active role in working at Lakeside but still had time to be a good student, cheerleader and popular classmate. It was during this period that she learned two very important life lessons: the value of a strong work ethic from her Gram Vi and the gift of generosity from her mother Mardelle. These traits defined much of who Carolyn was all her life.
In 1969, Carolyn married Mike Coleman. She had one child, Michael Richard, the light of her life. Carolyn and Big Mike amicably parted ways a couple of years later and, in the mid 1970s, Carolyn met Ray Hammack, who became her spouse and life partner until her passing.
In the late 1970s, Carolyn and her mother received a small business loan to relocate the family business to its present location on HPR. After many years of being a positive influence in the lives of so many Sitkans, Carolyn sold the store in 2009.
Moms all over town could tell you stories of how their kids were entertained and given treats by Carolyn as they shopped. She was always generous in giving back to the community and humbled by the loyalty of her customers.
Carolyn’s son Michael and his wife Tessie had five children who were the greatest joys in her life. She was also a devout member of Sitka Christian Center and a board member of Center for Community.
In addition, Carolyn was quite a prankster. She and friends Dawn Gluth and Connie Copelan delighted in playing ongoing practical jokes on each other.
Carolyn left us too soon. She deserved more retirement time, but apparently God needed her more in Heaven.
Preceding her in death were Grandmother Vi, father Stan, mother Mardelle and brother Rick.
She is survived by her husband Ray Hammack, son Michael (Tessie) Coleman, grandchildren Michaela, Malissa, Kaycie, Trevan and Chance Coleman, sister Cheryl Westover (Mary Ann Jones), Aunt Marlene Westover, best friend Dawn Gluth, stepdaughter Kristal Hammack and her children, and many cousins and in-laws.
She would also say that she leaves behind so many others of you who were a major part of her life.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations in her name be made to the Salvation Army, Center for Community, Sitka Community Hospital, Sitka Christian Center or to any other local charitable organization.
“Please join us on Thursday, March 27, to celebrate her life,” her family said. “Wear your most comfortable clothes and feel free to share a story, your thoughts or kind words about her.”

• < Prev
• Next >