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Carol Leslie Smith (Vondruska) Shutley
- Published: September 28, 2017
Carol Leslie Smith (Vondruska) Shutley, age 61, died on Sept. 13, 2017, in Austell, Georgia. Funeral services were held Sept. 18 in nearby Hiram.
Carol was born on 3-4-56 — as she liked to state her birth date — in Columbus, Ohio, the first child of Wilhelmina Allen Smith (now Huber) and William Lee Smith. After graduating from Yellow Springs High School in 1974, she attended Central State University and Ohio State University. In 1979, she married Frank Towns and moved to Dobbs Ferry, N.Y. They separated the following year and Carol returned to Yellow Springs. In 1985, she married Thomas Vondruska, a reporter for the Xenia Daily Gazette. They had two sons, Eben and Maxwell, whom she adored. She and Tom were divorced in 2003. Carol moved to the Atlanta metro area in 2005 to marry Mike Shutley, her family expanding to include four step-children, their families, and favorite sister-in-law Louise McIntyre.
Carol was preceded in death by her father William L. Smith, aunt Patricia Allen Davis, and uncle Greer Allen. She is survived by her husband, Michael; sons, Eben and Maxwell Vondruska; mother, Wilhelmina (Kenneth) Huber; sister, Lisa (Daniel) Gardner; and brother, Eric Allen Smith. She is also survived by her half-sister Erika Walker, step-sisters Daphne Hawkins, Stacy Makle and Rochelle Jones, step-daughters Sabrina (Tracy) Hulsey, Renee (Danny) Wilbanks and Jennifer (Shannon) Bonik, step-son Michael (Mony) Shutley, Jr., many grandchildren and first cousins and lifelong best friends Joan Davis, Mark Davis, Blake (Nadezdah) Davis, Syrie (David) Fried and Elizabeth (James) Ebright.
Carol was always loving and compassionate. She never missed sending cards or otherwise remembering birthdays and other anniversaries. She enjoyed both popular and folk music. She also loved the weekly folk dancing on Antioch’s Red Square, where she eventually became a folk dance leader. She loved animals, and her home almost always included one or more dogs.
Carol possessed great fortitude, forging resolutely ahead whenever she encountered difficulties. Her memory was formidable. She was a master of trivia — movies, popular music, etc. More importantly, she was her family’s memory. She chronicled and effortlessly retrieved the dates and details for a whole range of family events extending back to her childhood. If any of the dates listed here are wrong, who will correct them now?
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