Carol Ann West Wilson Thompson, adored wife, mother, grandmother, and friend, passed away surrounded by loved ones on April 22, 2026 at the age of 84. She was born on August 16, 1941 in Oakland, California, grew up in northern California surrounded and enriched by the support and love of many good people.

As a child Carol learned to groom and show horses, but she especially loved roaming the hills of Contra Costa County, California on long afternoon rides.  Perhaps her early experience with horses nurtured some of the enduring traits she is known for - a love of the natural world, the infinite capacity to be a calm and responsive companion, the patience to guide and correct with love, and the wisdom to know when to allow the people around her the freedom to explore the world in their own way.

Carol’s adventurous spirit took her many places throughout her life, giving her a broad perspective and unique way of viewing the world around her.  After graduating from the University of California, Berkeley in 1963, she toured Europe solo before beginning her professional life as an elementary school teacher in Los Angeles. In 1968 she accepted a proposal to hop in a suitcase to travel to Paris, France with her new (or soon-to-be) husband, Lee Wilson, where they lived near streets that were torn up by student protestors.  After returning to the US, she and Lee settled in West Layette, Indiana where they raised their 4 children.  After her husband’s death in 2001 she moved to Utah and in 2008 she agreed to marry and accompany Doyle Thompson to Kabul, Afghanistan where she tended a university library that had fallen into disuse because of the Taliban and taught English to their faculty.

Carol’s life was defined by compassion, service, and a quiet but determined commitment to making the world a better place. She cultivated and spoke with tender care to thousands of plants and vegetables, domestic and wild animals, and many trees, as well as to family and scores of friends, neighbors, and acquaintances.  Though her teaching career was cut short when she was required to resign due to pregnancy—a reflection of the times—her lifelong devotion to education, children, and service never wavered. She was a legal advocate for children who had no other representative. She tutored and taught children and adults in almost every community she lived in. In her seventies in Provo, Utah, she even snuck out under the cloak of darkness to save urban trees and paint sharrows for pedestrians and cyclists. She has made countless treks up Rock Canyon to “the 5th bridge” and beyond. And she always checked her driver’s blind spots when changing lanes.

Carol loved doing genealogy, especially learning about her ancestors and reading their stories.  She is now joyfully exploring a new realm and reuniting with those who have preceded her in death, especially her parents and her first husband, Lee, and meeting those whom she previously could only read about. Those who survive her are following her example and have loosened the reins that bound her to us to give her that freedom to explore.

Carol is preceded in death by her parents, John Franklin “Jack” West and Emma Carlton, and her first husband, Franklin Leondus “Lee” Wilson, III.

She is survived by her sister Barabara (Charles) Eliason; her second husband, Howard Doyle Thompson; her children, Erin (Mark) Burns, Sara (Darin) Atkinson, John (Crystal) Wilson, and Marc (Sunny Clark) Wilson; and her grandchildren, Emma Burns, Cade Wilson, Gabby Wilson, Connor Atkinson, Adam Burns, Eric Atkinson, Kellen Wilson, Anna Burns, Harper Wilson, Sam Burns, Avery Wilson, and Margo Wilson.

She is also survived by a large “bonus family” from her second marriage to Doyle: Tamra Thomson, Kim (Jeff) Smith, Shauna (Tom) Bigham, Trisha (Darren) Peterson, and Stephanie (Walt) Yorgason, 19 grandchildren, and 21 great-grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, April 25, 2026 at 10:30 am in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints building at 888 S. Freedom Blvd, Provo, Utah. Services will be streamed at: https://zoom.us/j/98150216725?pwd=U0q0ivxFywflvs6SjndTS7qtnzc0pL.1

In lieu of flowers please consider donating in her honor to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Humanitarian Fund, the League of Women Voters, or the Utah Food Bank.