Obituary

Blackmer, Carole Lee, from Lake Forest CA and Gillette WY, passed away from natural causes on June 27, 2015. Carole was born in Freeport Illinois, August 1, 1934 to Frank and Viola Kamrar. Her maternal grandparents, Ludwig and Caroline Trunk, helped raise her until the age of 12. Her only sister, Joyce, was born when she was 6 years old.

Carole attended elementary school in a one-room schoolhouse and always maintained good grades. She loved to ride bikes, listen to music and as a child she would sing songs on the radio. Carole attended West High School in Rockford Illinois, where she met her future husband, and graduated in 1952.

On September 10, 1955 Carole married her high school sweetheart, DeLyle Blackmer. They went on to have 4 children, Lynn, Lori, Dirk and Lisa whom they raised in Illinois and then California where in 1966, they settled in Garden Grove.

In 1968, Carole was divorced. She married second husband, Skip, in 1970 and was widowed on December 25, 1981. In 1973, she started college and graduated with her BA in Literature and Manpower Management from Cal State Long Beach in 1980. Carole starting working at the El Toro Marine Base in 1974 where she worked her way up to Supervisory Labor Relations Specialist. She was one of the last people working on the base when it closed and everyone jokingly told her to bring the flag out when she left. She had many wonderful lifelong relationships with people that she met while working at the El Toro Marine Base. She was also on the board of directors for the MCAS Federal Credit Union, eventually attaining the position of President.

After a 25-year career in Civil Service, Carole moved to Wyoming near her son. She worked for the District Court for several years before fully retiring.

As an adult, Carole was an avid reader, amassing an impressive collection of crime novels. She also enjoyed playing cards. Carole loved to travel and especially enjoyed her trips to Germany and Italy.

She was preceded in death by her parents, grandparents, husband Skip and dear friend Dot Barrett. She is survived by her son, Dirk (Tammy) Blackmer; daughters, Lynn (Rory) Allen, Lori Rahimzadeh (Marco Grammatica) and Lisa (Matt) Coulson; 7 grandchildren; 8 great-grandchildren; sister Joyce (Don) Moline; many nieces and nephews; dear friends Linda and Richard Banks; Jim Carson; her Wyoming friends and her former spouse DeLyle Blackmer.

The family wishes to extend special thanks to the memory care staff at Brookdale, San Juan Capistrano and St. Joseph’s hospice, especially Robin and Jo, and volunteer Yoon for their wonderful care of our mother.

Our beloved mother and grandmother, greatly loved and greatly missed.

Funeral services will be held on Tuesday, July 7th at 10:30 a.m. St. Kilian’s Catholic Church, Mission Viejo CA. Graveside services immediately following. Reception afterwards.