Anna Matthews Carr

Anna Paul Matthews was born Jan 31, 1934 in Mayfield, Kentucky, the daughter of Frank Ward Matthews and Ada Estelle (Crain) Matthews. “Anna Paul,” as she was known in her youth, spent her early years in Mayfield until graduating from Mayfield High School in 1952. During this time, she excelled in many artistic pursuits, playing piano, saxophone, and violin, acting in her Senior class play as Catherine in Pride and Prejudice, and dancing the jitterbug where she would often find herself and her partner surrounded by classmates watching her in awe. It was also in Mayfield where she was baptized and became a confirmed church member in the Mayfield Methodist Church. After graduating from High School, Anna attended Gulf Park Women’s College in Gulfport, Mississippi, where she studied Art History and Home Economics and belonged to the Sigma Psi Iota Sorority where she served as Vice President during her senior year. She was best known for her artwork in Gulf Park’s theatrical presentations, as well as for her sketches of New Orleans and character portraits, selling many of her drawings on the streets of New Orleans. After receiving her Associate Degree from Gulf Park, she attended the University of Alabama, continuing to major in Home Economics, as well as being involved in many extracurricular activities and clubs where she could express her artistic talents. She also retained her interest in sorority life, albeit she switched sororities by becoming a Phi Mu. But Anna’s most notable and lasting contribution at U of A was her involvement in the University’s Women’s Spirit Committee that served to promote and enhance Alabama’s Second-To-None School Spirit, still so evident today and the fuel and spark behind Alabama’s many future outstanding national championship teams. Following Anna’s formal education, she returned to Mayfield and was working as a schoolteacher when she met Eldon “Al” Carr, an Army officer stationed at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. After a whirlwind courtship, Anna and Al were married in Mayfield on July 11, 1958. This marriage grew stronger every day for more than 63 years. As an Army officer’s wife during her husband’s remaining 28 years in service, Anna’s life was influenced greatly by both world events and her husband’s military duties. During this time, she moved her family and her household fourteen times, living in eight states throughout the United States (some more than once), the Far East (Tokyo, Japan), and Europe (Heidelberg, Germany). There was also an expectation that military officer’s wives support their husband’s military duties by having considerable involvement in a lot of semi-official military functions, from greeting dignitaries to attendance or hosting many receptions and other social functions. Always excelling in whatever she did, Anna also served as President of the Officer’s Wives Clubs at two separate locations. Most importantly, was her responsibility to act as “Head-Of- Household,” relieving her husband of all family responsibilities whenever his assignments and responsibilities prevented him from being able to take care of family matters. The longest and most stressful absences occurred during his two, one-year combat assignments in Vietnam. Under this mosaic of all the work and stress involved in her activities as an Army officer’s wife, Anna overcame not only these challenges, but also simultaneously the greatest challenge facing every wife and mother: the successful raising of her two children, Matt and Cathe. Her children were always the focus of her attention, as well as being her greatest pride and joy. The greater the challenge, the more Anna rose to the occasion, raising, training, and educating her two children, molding them into a family filled with the same love and joy she had experienced while growing up. She was Scout leader for both and was always there for school activities. She made costumes for Halloween and their school plays and made almost all her daughters clothes up through the second grade. She also insured both children attended Sunday School and insured they were baptized and joined the church, as well as setting an example for them to emulate. What she liked to do most, was when she could educate her children while strengthening their trust in family and bonding her family together in healthy pursuits, and because Anna knew her children would learn more when doing what they loved to do, she was at her best when organizing and taking many skiing and camping trips together as a family. She also loved passing on her knowledge of art and picking out famous paintings to show them, such as the “Mona Lisa,” when visiting the Louvre in Paris. It is doubtful that a day went by from the time of her children’s birth until her death that they were not in her thoughts. After Anna’s husband retired from the Army and her children had both left home, the following 19 years of her married life began with her starting and establishing a real estate company with her husband, while also serving on its Board of Directors, acting as the VP in charge of Advertising for the company, and actively participating as one of the salespeople in the company. Anna always did whatever was needed to ensure the success of the company. She earned membership in the Sacramento Realtor’s “Masters Club,” a designation earned by the top 4% to 5% of Realtors in the area based upon their sales volume, eventually becoming a “Life Member of the Master’s Club” in the minimum time possible, as well as earning the “Certified Residential Specialist,” CRS designation, which was based on both technical proficiency and sales volume, a designation bestowed on only about the top 3% of Realtors in the Sacramento area. And she did all that as a salesperson during the same time she helped establish the company, recruit, and train other agents, develop a good customer base, and make other new Realtors in the company successful with her guidance and advertising. The real estate company she helped build from scratch remained a viable, profitable business entity throughout her approximate 19-year period of ownership while they remained in California. In addition to all her work as a realtor and business owner, Anna also began taking a more active role in church activities. First, she assisted as a Founding Father in establishing a new church in the area, and after it was up and running, she served as a Church Elder, Member of the Church’s Board of Directors, and devoted most of her time and efforts toward day-to-day church operations, as well as providing the decorations and flowers for the services. At a party by the church honoring her at the time of her departure, she received cards and letters from probably every family in the church with all expressing thoughts such as: “…you don’t give 100% of Anna, you give 200% plus…” “…you have given so many endless hours…” “…You have been such a blessing to our church.” “…I can never thank you enough…” These comments are probably not only indicative of what Anna did to help her church, but also the best summary of how she lived and helped everyone she knew and loved throughout her life. When Anna and her husband decided it was time to really retire, they departed California and moved to Corvallis, Oregon for what turned out to be Anna’s last move, about 16 years before her passing. Anna’s first few years of retirement selflessly centered around the care of Al’s mother and the celebration of her 100th Birthday, while transitioning toward a myriad of other retirement activities, such as locating a new church to join, going to reunions, reconnecting with old friends and relatives, and taking several cruises. Throughout Anna’s life, she most enjoyed being with those she loved while camping, skiing, traveling, cruising, or when engaged in holiday festivities. Her many moves throughout the world presented opportunities for her family to take many skiing vacations to resorts in Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Germany, Japan, and the United States, as well as many camping experiences, as she took her family travelling throughout nearly all the countries west of the Iron Curtain in Western Europe during the 1970’s, and during other periods of her life throughout all 50 of the U.S. states and several provinces in Canada. She also took many cruises, visiting Taiwan, Okinawa, most of the countries bordering the Pacific Coast of North America, all the Hawaiian Islands, the Panama Canal, Columbia, and several of the Caribbean Islands, as well as taking a river boat cruise up the Mississippi River. Anna’s true joy in traveling was that it was always with people she loved so much, and when it came to entertaining family and friends, Anna never retired, as she always greeted everyone with gourmet meals and “out of this world” hospitality, always working tirelessly to make every visit to her home a memorable event. Anna was preceded in death by her parents, her brother and sister-in-law, Dan and Terri Matthews, her brother-in-law, Hugh Crowe, her grandson, Dmitriy, and her nieces, Karen and Kathy Crowe. She is survived by her husband, Al Carr, her children, Matt and Natalya Carr, Cathe and Dean Avila, and her granddaughter, Yana. Also surviving are her sister-in-law, Anita Crowe, her nieces and nephews, Steve Crowe, Mark and Judy Crowe, Susan and Pat Schreiber, Anna Lou and John Roach, Terri Lee and Kenneth Dillon, Mary Ellen Matthews, and all their many children. Anna loved to sit with her husband on their sunporch, with dog in her lap and a glass of wine in her hand, as she watched the beautiful sunsets over Mary’s Peak. After more than 63 years together, both Anna and Al expressed their great and eternal love for one another during their last waking moment together on January 16th, 2022. Anna never again regained consciousness after going to sleep that night. She passed away less than two days later, just after the last of her two children and their families had arrived and all had been able to say their last farewells. Anna enriched the lives of everyone she touched throughout her life. Every day we will continue remembering how fortunate we have been to have known and spent time with her. The world is a better place for Anna having been part of it. So, to Anna we say, Well Done! Be thou at Peace! And may our Lord Jesus’ Grace be with you and to all those who love you so much, and who look forward to being with you again on the other side of death, where there will no longer be tears, death, mourning, crying, or pain, and where God will make all things new. Due to COVID, and the age and distant locations of most of her relatives and friends, Anna directed there not be a Memorial Service at the time of her death. Contributions in memory of Anna may be made to Westminster Presbyterian Church, P.O. Box 2188, Corvallis, OR 97339-2188, or to any other charity of your choice.

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Anna Matthews Carr

January 31, 1934 - January 18, 2022