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Carroll’s Story

Site created on March 23, 2020

Welcome to our CaringBridge website. We are using it to keep family and friends of Carroll Houle updated in one place. We appreciate your support and words of hope and encouragement. Thank you for visiting.
This site has been set up by friends at the Norfolk, VA Catholic Worker community, which Carroll joined in May 2019 after a decade in Charlottesville, VA, and a long career as Maryknoll missionary priest before that. We know that Carroll has many loving circles of friends and a wonderful family in Minnesota. Until recently, he was corespondent par excellence. For a while he has had short term memory problems, but his love for his friends and adopted family in and from Africa, his Maryknoll community, his extensive Minnesota family of origin, his Charlottesville community, and more has not been lost to his memory. He can still speak Swahili.
In February, Carroll became ill and was hospitalized with pneumonia. Upon discharge, because of physical weakness he entered a care facility to receive therapy. Sadly, he was not been able to engage well with therapy, and he became weaker and weaker, and finally bed-ridden, sleeping much of the time. The memory loss (dementia) is now worse, has robbed him of interest in food, so he is not eating much at all. His doctors do not expect the situation to improve. Last week he began hospice services in the care facility. He is comfortable.
Please feel free to share stories, pictures, memories of dear Carroll. They will mean much to all of us. We will share them with him.

Newest Update

Journal entry by Kim Williams — Apr 9, 2020

Dear ones,
Carroll remains comfortable, but grows weaker. My husband,Steve Baggarly, was able to have a 15 minute visit with him this afternoon. He read messages that you all have left here, or through email or phone call (I have kept a list for Carroll). Steve also read psalms to him.
Carroll opened his eyes a few times, but he did not speak. He is very thin.
The hospice nurse continues to visit Carroll daily.
Praying for God's peace to be with Carroll.
~Kim

Read More of the journal titled "April 9, 2020"

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