Carol Jean Pickerel (Nystrom)
Pickerel
Carol Jean Pickerel (Nystrom)
Dec. 15, 1940 — April 17, 2018
Carol was born in Noonan, N.D., to Art and Lillian Nystrom in 1940. Her dad was the sheriff in Crosby, N.D. Their first home was an apartment attached to the jail. In the summer of 1941, the family moved to Bonners Ferry, Idaho, where Carol’s dad cleared the land and built the farm and house where she and her siblings grew up. She enjoyed 300 acres of woods with her siblings, Marilyn (now deceased), Don, Gail, and Ken, as playmates. After graduating from Bonners Ferry High School, she married her high school sweetheart, Don Sinclair.
Carol worked at the University of Idaho where she was trained as an IBM Equipment Operator. Three years later their daughter Pamela Jean was born, and when she was five months old, Don died as the result of an accident. Carol and Pam moved to Walla Walla, Wash., where she worked for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as an Electronic Accounting Machine Operator.
She married Larry Lanham, whom she met at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and they had two children, Tyler Jay and Megan Jane. After a 14-year marriage, Larry died. Carol and the kids went to a Christian camp at Flathead Lake in Montana, where she met Tom Pickerel from Ellensburg and his three children. After a three-year acquaintance, they married, moved to Ellensburg, and combined families, adding three more children: Julie Ann, Joanne Louise, and Mark Thomas.
Over the years, Carol enjoyed temp work at CWU and ran Tom’s art business, but her main occupation was a homemaker and mother, which brought her great joy. Tom and Carol enjoyed 39 years of marriage together. They were active members at Mercer Creek Church (Christian and Missionary Alliance).
Carol is survived by her husband, Tom, and children Pam (Jeff) Pearson, Tyler (Lori) Lanham, Megan (Herman) Pickerel-Winer, Julie Pickerel-Graham, Joanne (Tim) Perkins, and Mark (Keely) Pickerel. She was blessed with 10 grandchildren: Tyson (Amanda) Pickerel, Zach Schreiber, Teal (Brandon) Womac, Katelyn (Collin) May, Brett Williams, Kass Hoffman, Maxfield Winer, Charles Ciaramitaro, Hazel and Rose Pickerel, and a great-granddaughter, Naomi Pickerel.
The memorial will be held at 11 a.m. May 19, 2018, at Mercer Creek Church in Ellensburg, Wash. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Mercer Creek Great Commission Fund to help support our worldwide missionaries.