Don Elmer Carroll

Don Elmer Carroll May 1, 1951 - March 27, 2019  Don Carroll aka D.C. to his friends, Buddy to his family, fought a long and arduous battle against cancer. He played hard, lived hard, laughed hard, and fought hard...he took his last breath...and smiled. He was predeceased by his mother Carol Ferguson Carroll whom he took care of for the past 13 years, his father James, and siblings Shirley and Chris. Don is survived by his fiancee Ms. Brenda Copley, (sister) Linda, (daughter) Dawnette, (sil) Ralph, and his three grandsons, Nicholas, Joshua, and Franklin of Ohio. He was also an Uncle and Great Uncle to many nieces and nephews. I tried counting us all up...I knew I would forget someone, so I quit. Even he couldn't tell you how many of us there were,so rather than forget someone...you know who you are. He and I sat and joked about what I was to write and he said be honest, and throw some humor in it if I could. I will do my best. He was drafted into the United States Army in 1971 and according to his friend Joe, they were grunts on the ground in Vietnam...Infantry Division. He was an adventurous person and decided that that little part of Asia was not enough and traded in his Army greens, for Navy Blue...bell bottoms I believe. He went into the Navy in 1974 so he could see the rest of the world. He fell in love with the ocean. He became a certified diver while in the Navy. He often talked about his various underwater treks and his favorite places to dive. The place that he had the fondest memories of was Guantanamo Bay. He had somewhat of a reputation for being a reckless diver though. Why? He often dived alone. Anyone who knew him would be shaking their head in disbelief but also recognize that it sounded like something he would do. He liked to be the prankster. One day at dinner, his mother, my grandmother, held an ear of corn in her hand, turned to him and said, "Butter me Buddy." He did...from her wrist to her elbow. He missed the corn. He had a caring side that not everyone witnessed. If you did, he must have liked you. He didn't suffer fools much. He would lend a hand if he could and give you the shirt off his back if you needed it. He wasn't the type of person you should lie to, cheat or hurt someone he cared about or a weaker person. He has a few stories about what happened if you did. I will respectfully keep those to myself. Some of us growing up saw his loving, fun, caring side. Especially when he was home visiting and would stop by to pick up three little kids who were always hungry. He would take them to Dairy Queen in the little town they lived in in Ohio and let them eat..and eat..and eat. He knew it might be awhile before they ate again so he would keep buying hamburgers for them until they couldn't eat anymore...or threw up on him. I told him that probably wasn't the smartest thing he ever did...letting them eat like that but he simply said, "Y'all were hungry." He was very proud of his cooking skills. If he didn't teach you how to make a proper potato soup than yours is probably no good. According to him, which is probably why mine is the best. I added the butter in too early the first time I made it for him...I only made that mistake once. He loved motorcycles, especially the Harley he used to have. If you had never been on one before, he would take you for a ride, a very fast ride while popping a wheelie all the while laughing if you were scared or screamed and beat him on the back of the head like his sister, Linda. If you liked it, he would go faster. I got the faster ride and the wheelies...at age 12. He loved his cigars and shooting pool. He was banned from a couple pool halls in Ohio and Virginia. Everyone knew once he gained control of the table, that was it. He didn't play as well in the last year due to what the chemo was doing to his body, but he still tried to play. He had his favorite spot in Lavalette, the Creekside Tavern. Creekside Tavern became his second home along with becoming his second family. He would talk about how much he loved his friends that were there and he knew it was hard for a few of his friends to see him at the end. He would rather they remember him as he used to be rather than remember him after the cancer and chemo had ravaged  his body. He was a man of contradictions. He could be short tempered and harsh but was also loving, caring, kind, and generous. When he could work, he worked hard. He said he didn't have too many regrets because it wasn't like he could go back and change anything. He just had to accept it, move on, and make the best of it. He lived his life the way  he wanted and died when he was ready to go. He slipped into a coma on March 16th; he heard his final goodbye from an old friend and 2 hours later...took his last breath on March 27th...with that last breath...he smiled.