Obituary

William Francis “Bill” Carroll of Laguna Niguel, California, passed away peacefully surrounded by his family on October 15, 2019 at Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo, California.

Bill was born on March 4, 1924, at home, in Hawthorne, New Jersey. He was born to loving parents, John and Elizabeth Hughes Carroll and had 4 brothers – Leslie, John, Raymond and Edmund.

He graduated from St. Bonaventure’s High School in Paterson, New Jersey and was active in Parish life and sports. He excelled at basketball and was selected as an “All State” baseball player in the State of New Jersey.

When he was 18 he joined the Knights of Columbus and soon after high school graduation, enlisted in the United States Navy.  He was assigned to a sub chaser in the Mediterranean and saw active duty on that small 125′ boat.  A few years into his service, he was invited to join the V-12 Navy College Training Programwhich enabled him to return to the United States and attend Drew and Princeton Universities.

He met the love of his life, Claire Mulroony, in 1948 and they married on September 17, 1949 at St. Bonaventure’s Church.  They were happily married for 70 years.  They welcomed 5 children into the world, Noreen, Bill, Jim (Betty), Marianne Carroll-Luquet (Dennis) and Eileen Rowland (Ken).  Later on, they were fortunate to have 6 grandchildren join the family: Michael and Jason Shockey, Gared and Caitlin Luquet and Brendan and Molly Rowland.  Even later, he welcomed 4 great grandchildren. Anna Maria, Makade, Natalie and Emma Shockey.

Bill joined Colgate Palmolive Company where he advanced through the ranks and retired as a Regional Sales Manager in Industrial Sales after 33 years with the company.  During his early years at Colgate, he returned to college and completed his Bachelor of Science degree at Rutgers University.

Bill made friends wherever he went and touched many people’s lives.  He was an avid golfer and he and Claire enjoyed many trips with fellow golfers around the country. He had a passion for encouraging his family and every person he met to save and invest in their future.