Carolyn Sue Warner

Carolyn Sue Hill was born on January 19, 1942 in Charleston, WV to Oval Buell Hill and Mary Virginia Phillips Hill. She grew up in Dunbar, WV with her sisters, Bunny and Kathy, and also enjoyed time with their Aunt Marion and Uncle Doc in Wheeling, WV. She attended Chatham College in Pittsburgh for a year where she worked as a model for Kaufmann's department store. She transferred to Morris Harvey College in Charleston, WV where she received her degree in elementary education and met Ed Warner. After their wedding, Sue taught second and third grade in Dunbar, WV, Opelika, AL, and Raleigh, NC.

When Amy and Robert were born, Sue chose to stay home to raise them, even though this required some creative financial tactics. Sue had a wide variety of interests and hobbies. Always skilled with words, Sue daily challenged her family with new vocabulary - hard to beat in a Scrabble game - and this influence clearly shaped her children's penchant for communication and languages. Sue was artistically inclined and enjoyed drawing with chalks and charcoals, playing the piano and the dulcimer, singing and dancing. She read voraciously, especially mysteries and western novels as well as the daily paper and many magazines, was a talented puzzle solver, and played a tough game of bridge, canasta, dominoes and mahjong. She was a passionate soccer fan and watched thousands of games played by Robert, Amy and Ed, beginning in the 1970s, and continuing with her grandchildren, Chelsea, MLS, and World Cups. In 1989 Sue and Ed became puppy raisers for Guiding Eyes for the Blind; Sue once joined namesake Bob Inskeep to tell his local radio audience about GEB before they proudly attended Inskeep's graduation in 1990. For many years, Sue continued to volunteer her training, nurturing and organizational talents to support the NC Puppy Raiser program's ongoing mission.

Ed & Sue attended Brooks Avenue Church of Christ, and Sue worked there as a secretary for over 20 years. Ed & Sue were very involved in the campus ministry and often hosted events at the "Warner Convention Center" on Lake Benson. Sue was an adventurous cook, always trying new recipes and inventing many of her own, and she was known for her hospitality, opening her home to family and friends from all over the world. It wasn't uncommon for Ed and Sue to host visiting missionaries and house young adults and young families who needed a place to stop along the way to their next stage of life.

Ed & Sue supported the growth of new congregations and in 2000 were founding members of the Raleigh Church of Christ. They participated in multiple mission trips to Honduras and Sue was involved in the women's ministry. In addition to family road trips to WV, California and Nova Scotia, Ed and Sue traveled to 41 US states, Scotland, Barbados, Mexico, Uruguay and El Salvador.

Sue always wanted to have 4 children, so she was thrilled to welcome Carlos & Miriam into the family and claim them as her own. As the first grandchild, Hannah named her Grandmamá, and Sue was a vibrant part of the lives of her five grandchildren, attending swim meets, dance performances, graduations, and hosting sleepovers for them.

She is preceded in death by Ed, her husband of 58 years, and is survived by her, daughter Amy (Carlos), her son Robert (Miriam), grandchildren Hannah Alfaro, Allen Alfaro, Nicolas Warner, Alex Alfaro, Daniel Warner, sisters Bunny (Marshall) Jarrett and Kathy Hanko, and many beloved nieces and nephews and grandnieces and grandnephews.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Guiding Eyes for the Blind, www.guidingeyes.org

The family would like to express their sincere appreciation to Jason Castro and the memory care staff at Kingswood Reserve for the loving care and compassion that they gave to Sue. The family also thanks the many members of the Church who have visited Sue and supported the family with prayers and encouragement.