Carol Ann (Barnes) Parsons of Clinton, Missouri passed away peacefully on Friday, August 26, 2022 at Research Medical Center in Kansas City, Missouri. Funeral services for Carol will be at 11:00 AM on Tuesday, August 30, 2022 at the Clinton Christian Church. Visitation will be from 10:00-11:00 AM prior to the service. Burial will follow in Englewood Cemetery, Clinton, Missouri.  Memorial contributions can be made to the Clinton Samaritan Center or the Christian Women's Fellowship of Clinton Christian Church.  Memorials can be left in care of the funeral home.

Carol was born in Camdenton, Missouri to James and Lucille (Martin) Barnes on September 23, 1939. She grew up on a farm in Quincy, MO.  She graduated from Weaubleau High School in 1957.  Carol loved life on the farm with her five siblings and parents.  They enjoyed cooking, baking, gardening and most of all fishing. They made so many wonderful memories as a family.

Carol married James Earl Parsons on December 10, 1960 in LaDue, Missouri. Carol and Jim lived in Illinois, Michigan, Nebraska and Wisconsin until they returned to their home state of Missouri to settle in Clinton.  Married for sixty-two years, Carol and Jim shared a love of fishing, traveling the world and most of all raising their two children, Kimberly and Michael.  Once her children were well into school, Carol joined the Clinton School District as a para-professional.  Carol loved children and enjoyed making a difference in their lives.

Together Carol and Jim went to over twenty countries and numerous states.  They traveled through Europe, Asia and South America and even crossed the Panama Canal. They loved to go on cruises all over the world. Many trips involved fishing, with Carol once catching a 240 lb. halibut in Alaska. Of all the places in the world they went to, their favorite trip was always to go fishing at The Fisheries Resort on Rainey Lake in Fort Frances, Ontario, Canada.  They made this annual trip for over forty-five years.

Carol was a devoted wife and mother.  She was a stay at home mom raising her children, Kimberly and Michael. She adored taking care of them and teaching them everything she could. She was always happy to be the "room mom", the Camp Fire Counselor, or Cub Scout Leader.  It was important to Carol that her children took piano lessons and she learned with them.   Carol and Jim loved dogs, especially poodles and passed this on to their children.  Carol wanted the world for her children and was happy to give it to them. Kimberly and Michael were the center of her world. Later as grandmother of three, Carol took great joy in the role. Her grandchildren were the light of her life.   Carol was also a devoted sister to her five siblings and parents. She cared equally for Jim's side of the family.  Carol was always ready to lend a hand in any way she could to family and friends.

Carol was a member of the Christian Church in Clinton, Missouri.  Carol served as deaconess and a member of the Christian Women's Fellowship. Carol served on many committees and board positions throughout her life in the church. She also enjoyed being a volunteer at GVMH and the Clinton Samaritan Center.  Carol enjoyed politics and was an Election Judge for Henry County.

Carol loved to raise flowers, cook delicious meals (her homemade noodles were everyone's favorite), read, fish, walk at the Benson Center and play cards with friends.  Each spring, Carol enjoyed long drives in the Ozarks to admire the dogwood blooms and going fishing with her sister and girlfriends at Bennett Springs.  Carol was truly blessed to have so many wonderful, devoted friends.

Carol was preceded in death by her parents, Jim and Lucille, in-laws Everett and Dorothy Parsons; sisters Shirley Oviatt, Mary Temple and Patricia Frankenfield; sister-and brother-in-law Mary Ann and Wyatt Mellen, brother-in-law Joe Brown; niece Karen Yoss, nephews Donnie Hughes and Tom Glass.  She is survived by her husband Jim of the home; daughter Kimberly and husband Paul Slater of Dallas, TX, son Michael Parsons of Saint Mary's, KS; grandchildren Johnathon and Nicholas Slater, and Kaitlynn Parsons; sister Sharon and husband Don Minich, brother Jim and wife Judy Barnes, brother-in-law John Frankenfield, sister-in-law JoAnn Brown, and many loving nieces and nephews.

Arrangements have been entrusted to Vansant-Mills Funeral Home in Clinton, Missouri.