- Date Of Birth: December 2, 1935
- Date Of Death: April 16, 2012
- State: Illinois
Following a courageous seven-year fight with Parkinson’s and Lewy Body dementia, Carol J. Burel went to the place prepared for her in heaven on April 16, 2012, having trusted Christ as her Lord and Savior as a young adult.
Born on December 2, 1935, in Detroit, Michigan, to Oscar and Katherine (Pryor) Jensen, Carol grew up in Maryville, Tennessee, in the home of her aunt and uncle, Maude & Enoch Law. She attended East Tennessee State College until the time she met and married the man with whom she would spend the next 56 years, Travis G. Burel. Carol was lovingly welcomed into the Burel family when she and Travis married on November 21, 1956, at Virginia Ave. Baptist Church in Atlanta, GA. Carol, who was given the nickname “Jake” by her family, was affectionately received into the Burel family as Jake forevermore. Jake gratefully accepted their love and wisdom, especially that of her mother-in-law, Cynthia, who became the mother that she never had during her growing-up years.Carol worked at the Retail Credit Corporation of Atlanta, Georgia, earning her PHT degree (Putting Hubby Thru) when Travis graduated from Georgia Tech in 1960. While still living in Atlanta, Travis and Carol began their family with the birth of Timothy Grady in May, 1959.
Their daughter Darlene Carol was born in December, 1960, while living in Baltimore, Maryland. The family relocated to Florida shortly thereafter, eventually settling in Largo, where Holly Leigh was born in October, 1966. Carol was a full-time homemaker in the truest sense of the word, creating a home where her family felt lovingly cared for, valued and safe. The Burel home became the place where neighborhood children loved to gather as Carol was always there at the end of the school day with a listening ear and home-baked goodies. Carol also opened her home throughout the years to visiting missionaries and music groups and provided long-term accommodations to her nephew and a friend of the family who found themselves in difficult situations.
Carol will be remembered for her selfless devotion to her family. She had an uncanny way of creating fun out of the mundane with her wake-up songs, playing Gin Rummy in bed, or impromptu Southern Gospel sing-a-longs accompanied by her on the ukulele. She enjoyed many summers with almost daily trips to the beach with her kids and friends in the neighborhood and became an expert at “roughing it” on the many tent camping trips taken by the family. She took her job as nurturer very seriously, especially when it came to major life events like how to take care of a juvenile diabetic when her son Tim was diagnosed as a 12-year-old.
Carol served the Lord faithfully over the years as a Sunday School teacher, Vacation Bible School leader, and youth leader for various ages. When the family moved to Davis, Illinois, in 1977, Carol became active in the Women’s Missionary Fellowship at Davis Baptist Church (nka Faith Community Church), serving as its chairman for several years. She also organized and chaired the first prayer chain at the Davis church, a natural extension of her fervent daily prayer life for her family. Most recently Carol worshipped at F
