Carole Purdie

Date of Birth

December 14, 1947

Date of Death

July 15, 2008

City of Death

Santa Barbara

Carole Purdie – 12/14/1947 – 7/15/2008

On July 15th, after a noble three and a half-year struggle with cancer, Carole submitted to God’s plan and died peacefully at home with her husband, John, by her side. She was only 60 years old.

Carole Ann Henry was born in Long Beach, CA. in 1947 and attended Long Beach Poly High School. She received her B.A. in Counseling from CalPoly SLO. There she met John and in 1970, they were married. John was stationed in Aschaffenburg, Germany, where they traveled and learned the language. In 1973 they returned to John’s home in Santa Barbara. Their beloved son, J.T., was born in 1977 and became the focus of a closely knit supportive family.

In 1982, Carole received her M.A. in Counseling from California Lutheran University. For several years she worked in the personnel office of SB School District coordinating substitute teachers before joining Santa Barbara City College as Adult Ed Programmer for the Arts. In 1986 Carole moved to SBCC’s main campus as an academic and career counselor and later was promoted to Coordinator of Student Services for Adult Education before assuming her final and favorite role: Dean of the SBCC Wake Center in Goleta.

At the Wake Center, Carole developed and implemented a comprehensive Student Services Plan for Continuing Education, supervised the “STEP” non-credit matriculation and CalWORKs Programs. She provided leadership for Adult High School, ESL, Citizenship, GED testing, marketing and community relationships. She took pride in selecting exceptional staff for the STEP Program and considered the development of STEP as the culmination of all she had learned and wanted to accomplish professionally.

Carole was a lovely, gentle lady; a gourmet cook who loved to make soup, entertain, and shop for bargains. A devotee of the daily classified ads, she found many special treasures. She gathered friends wherever she went and displayed steadfast devotion and loyalty to them. She will be especially missed by the SBCC Counseling Women, her childhood “Hot Flash” friends, the SBCC Wake Center staff, her Bible study group, and countless others who knew and loved her. Her friends and colleagues have learned important lessons from Carole grace, determination, faith and courage and will remember her leopard print wardrobe and quirky, playful nature.

The family wishes to thank Dr. Frederic Kass of the Cancer Center., Visiting Nurses Hospice Care, particularly Holly Joseph MSW, Ditte Noack RN , caregiver Claudia Driscoll, and friends who contributed to the “food chain.” In Carole’s memory, a tree and plaque will be installed at the Wake Center. In lieu of flowers, contributions to this memorial may be sent to The Foundation for SBCC 721 Cliff Dr. SB 93109, noting that it is for “Carole’s Tree or to the Cancer Center of Santa Barbara.

Services are scheduled for Monday, July 28 at 1:00 p.m. at Calvary Chapel: 1 North Caesar Chavez St. At Carole’s request, please wear red. Graveside services and burial at SB Cemetery are for immediate family. Carole is survived by her husband John, son J.T, brother Phil, wife Lori and nephew Michael. Her parents Trent and Carmen Henry predeceased her.

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