My name is Carol Carmen Aver. I was born on the 26th of November 1926 and I died on October 1, 2018. I am not writing from the grave, of courseI just had the foresight to write my own obituary and have done so for several reasons. For one thing, I am the only one that knows the whole story of my lifeand for another, I live alone and my children are too far away to write of my demise. So I decided to write my story and just have the date filled in when my time on Earth is complete. I was born in Chico, CA, when my parents Albert Charles Aver and Florence Francisca Aver sere spending the Thanksgiving holiday with friends. Dad and Mother operated a hotel and dining room in Oakland, CA. My dad died young at 32 and we moved to Tehama and Los Molinos, where her two sisters lived. Mother remarried an attorney named Thorwall Smith Johnson. However, they divorced a few years later and Mother moved to Chico, where I, age 19, married George Alex and gave birth to three children, Crystal Ann, Michael George, and Sandra Jean. Crystal survives to this day, but Sandra died in 2006 and Mike in 2018. I also had a half sister Juanita Simpson and a half brother Edward Conway, but both are now deceased. As the years went by, I remarried twice more and brought daughter Deborah into this world in 1954 and daughter Ria in 1957. I also raised stepchildren Mitchell, John, and Dan Carpenter along with my own. My husbands are now all deceased. My children have had many children of their own, but rather than bore you with the details, I have totaled them up and report that I've had 11 grandchildren, 6 great grandchildren, and 4 great-great grandchildren! All have been great kids, and if awards were given for production alone, I think I would qualify for something. Well, I have, over the course of my long life, worked for the Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife and for Judge Lang in the Red Bluff Municipal Court. I was one (of only 3 women in the State of California) to be hired to pull green chain at Diamond lumber mill. It was at that time that I took night classes at Shasta College and graduated with a secretarial degree as an Associate in Arts. Later, I worked as an office manager for an appraisal company in San Jose, and as an Administrative Assistant in the space program at Lockheed in the Bay area. I finally retired from all this activity and moved to Red Bluff in 1992 and settled down in a house on 10 acres west of town. However, growing restless, I got back in the trenches as a clerk in the County Mental Health Department, transferred to Drug and Alcohol as a clerk, and finally the Welfare Department. After 8 years there, I retired for good in 2000. I liked to travel and have been in 20 different countries. I was quite a quilter and have made quilts for the Butte County Animal Shelter. I like to knit and crochet, and have made much of my own clothes. Oh! I have always loved to dance! I'll miss that a lot! As politics go, I am a registered Republican but have voted for the candidate rather than the party line. For example, I voted for John F. Kennedy. I lived alone in my home in the countryside for over 24 years and believe I have been a good wife and mother. Some folks would rate me as being quite attractive even in my golden yearsbut you'll just have to take their word for that. My daughters have arranged a graveside service at the Tehama Cemetery on November 24 at 3:00. Following the service, there will be appetizers and drinks at the Elks Lodge in Red Bluff. Well, that's about it. I've had a good long life and few regrets. I hope my survivors will be able to say the same. Carol

Published in Daily News on Nov. 14, 2018