Carol Joan (Wilhite) Winkleblack

Carol Winkleblack

CHARLESTON – Carol Joan Winkleblack, 82, of rural Charleston, passed away Sunday, September 15, 2019 at Hilltop Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center.

Her funeral will be held at 11:00 a.m. Thursday, September 19, 2019 at the Caudill-King Funeral Home with Reverend Janice Kahl officiating.  Burial will follow in Enon Cemetery, rural Ashmore.  Visitation will begin at 9:00 a.m. Thursday at the funeral home.  Memorials may be made to the American Cancer Society.

Carol was born April 12, 1937 at Litchfield, Illinois, daughter of Siegel and Mabel (White) Wilhite.  She married Cyril D. “Cid” Winkleblack, June 8, 1958 at the Union Avenue Christian Church in Litchfield, Illinois; he preceded her in death, September 16, 2014.  She is survived by their daughters: Karen (Rodney) Biddle of Mattoon and Brenda (Mark) Galbraith of Seattle, WA. 

Carol was a member of Wesley United Methodist Church.  She retired from Booth Library at EIU after more than 20 years of service.  Carol was a lifelong genealogist, beginning in college, tracking her family roots back to the time of the Normans in England.  In their early years, Carol and Cid traveled back to Illinois from California each summer to spend time with family.  In later years, her adventures with her daughter Karen, were in the surrounding states to locate cemeteries where family members were buried.   She was an avid gardener, as anyone who would visit her home would be able to see.

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