Obituary of Carol Ann Baw

It is with the deepest sadness that we announce the sudden passing of Carol Ann Baw (formerly Vallance) from natural causes in her home in Jacksonville Florida on July 1st, 2021, at the age of 73. The second youngest of 7 children, Carol was born to Lennis Vallance and Frances Strasel, in Port Clinton, Ohio. A widow, she is now reunited with her husband, Josefino T. Baw, retired from the US Coast Guard, who preceded her in death in 1991, as well as her mother and father, her brother Dennis, and sisters Jean, Willah, and Nancy. Carol is survived by her 4 daughters: Christina and husband David Conley, Josiefine and husband Puthea Loeuk, Billie-Jo Baw, Suzanne Baw and husband Chadwick Darsey as well as her 8 grandchildren: Thomas Canlas, Anthony Loeuk, Simone Mackey and her husband Nashad Mackey, Hannah Loeuk, Marcus Darsey, Isaac Canlas, Ivory Canlas, and Collin Loeuk, and 2 great-grandchildren Malayah and Noah Mackey. Additionally, Her brother John Franklin and sister Vella Louise “Sue” also survive. As the wife of a Coast Guardsman, Carol was well-traveled, and absolutely loved traveling, living variously in Martha’s Vineyard Island, Savannah Georgia, Honolulu, Hawaii, Kodiak, Cordova and Valdez, Alaska, Key West and Jacksonville Florida, and even a short stint in Las Vegas, Nevada, before finally returning to Jacksonville in 2002, where she continued to reside until the time of her passing. Carol also visited the Philippine Islands on several occasions with her husband, Joe, and even lived in a giant, and we mean giant, motorhome which was driven from Valdez, Alaska to Key West, Florida over the course of a month in 1990 – a true tour of North America. Carol was always planning a trip to visit family or friends, and in her middle age she generally wanted that trip to be a “road trip”. Carol could not be considered a good driver and she was easily distracted in thought, or by something on the road, or a bird, or the radio, or anything, really. Despite her impressive sense of direction and excellent memory for landmarks, she had a habit of taking the wrong exit in the worst part of town, or becoming distracted and driving miles past where she wanted to be, but that certainly didn’t stop her from planning her next trip. She had to be dissuaded on several occasions from loading up her Ford Escape and hitting the road. To her, a 70 year old woman driving from Florida to Los Angeles was perfectly normal and is a prime example of her can-do, positive attitude. Whether she was up or down monetarily, physically, or emotionally her positive attitude and can-do nature shone through. Carol was never one to focus on the negative and she found the silver lining to most situations. Her famous saying that she didn’t “borrow trouble” was a guiding principle in her life. In fact she lived by several maxims and sayings. “You made your bed now lay in it”, and “too bad so sad” were two of her more famous sayings. The way she figured things was that she got dealt a bad hand when she was widowed with 4 daughters at home, at age 43, and that if she could make a go of things, and keep a positive attitude, then you probably could too. So stop complaining and “get on with it” as she would say. And in this we’re proud to say here that she was absolutely right. Throughout her life, Carol was very active socially. She made new friends easily and would help out anybody who needed a hand. She also loved games and diversions of all kinds, especially Mahjong and Scrabble, as well as giant, complicated jigsaw puzzles. And Train Dominoes. She was very active in her local senior center, organizing Nintendo Wii bowling (she was an avid bowler in her youth), Chair Volleyball, other game tournaments, and probably many other things too numerous to mention. The Covid-19 pandemic severely cramped her style as she could no longer visit her friends at the senior center, but even so, she managed to get in her quota of Scrabble and Mahjong games, in the downstairs library of her apartment building. In earlier times, she was known as an ace Spades player and would regularly trounce her daughters, as well as most other opponents. Her ability to play as sharply faded a bit with time, and if defeated (when she felt she should have won) she would express exasperation. “You Smuckers!” she was known to utter when frustrated. Likewise, She absolutely loved gambling and casinos particularly in Las Vegas, and had the propensity to win (and then lose) tidy sums quickly – but she whole-heartedly enjoyed every moment of it. Carol also enjoyed games on her computer and her Amazon Kindle, especially solitaire, and would get frustrated when she ran out of space to download more – a problem that her grandson was often called to fix. She enjoyed television shows, was up-to-date, with current services such as Netflix and Hulu, and had favorite TV shows. She was a particular fan of Crime and Crime drama shows as well as game shows (The Price is Right!) and Science Fiction (Star Trek!). At home, Carol was known as an excellent cook. Her Bok-Choy and sausage soup and her Filipino chicken adobo (with green beans) were noted favorites within her family. She was also an accomplished seamstress and could sew anything from new curtains, to prom dresses, to furniture slip covers. She was a lover of crafts – being an excellent knitter - and at one point she had perhaps the world's finest collection of hand-painted ceramic decanters and bottles – and coffee mugs – which was certainly appropriate as she definitely loved her coffee, with chocolate chip cookies to dunk. In fact, She was known to drink an entire pot by herself over the course of an evening, then finish her last cup and go directly to bed (How she slept after drinking that much caffeine remains a mystery to this day.) Carol did a fine job raising her four daughters by herself and her family was very important to her. She was extremely proud of all her girls and their families, and never missed an opportunity to see them; especially her grandchildren, and great grandchildren, whom she loved dearly, and would volunteer to babysit every chance she had. Carol was also an avid collector. The subject of her collections changed a bit over time, but lighthouses and related material were a prominent theme due to her long association with the US Coast Guard. She loved nothing more than to decorate every inch of her home with pictures of her family and extended family, her lighthouse collection, dry-mounted massive jigsaw puzzles and USCG themed material. At one point in time, a small bar, a projection TV, bead draperies, and a disco ball were included in her décor, but it all worked harmoniously and was a wonder to see. Mom was truly was one of a kind. You always knew where she stood on a topic, and she wore her heart on her sleeve. You never knew what she might say next, but she was always willing to lend a hand to friend or stranger alike. Perpetually focusing on the positive and looking ahead to her next adventure, she had an irrepressible nature fueled by her love of family, travel, and fun. She was loved by everyone who knew her and her unexpected departure has left in hole in our lives that will be very difficult to fill. Although she was taken from us too soon, she had a full life full of love and friendship. By turns, she was a grandma, a friend, a confidant, a mentor, a sister, a wife, and a lover of fun and good times. But more than all that she was Our Mom, the most important thing in the world to us. Goodbye, mom, we love you and miss you so much. Per Mom’s wishes, cremation has taken place. There will be no funeral services. We will be taking her ashes back to her home town of Port Clinton, Ohio at a later date. However, if you would like to pay your respects you can meet and talk with her four daughters on Thursday, July 8th at Hampton Inn Jacksonville East Regency Square, 1021 Hospitality Lane, Jacksonville, Florida 32225 between the hours of 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. In lieu of a service, the daughters will receive family and friends between the hours of 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.on Thursday, July 8th, at the Hampton Inn located at: 1021 Hospitality Lane, Jacksonville, Florida 32225