Carolyne (Carol) B. Schroeder passed away peacefully on Wednesday, June 13th, at her home in Palm Springs, Calif., at age 86. She was born on March 22, 1936, to Susan Augusta (Dunkleberger) Bachman, a homemaker, and William Robert Bachman, a cement mill worker, in the tiny Pennsylvania Dutch hamlet of Lenhartsville, Pennsylvania. She had three older sisters. Laura Ella Mae was seven years her senior, and Bessie Irene and Ruth Marie passed during infancy.
While life at home with her parents and sister Laura was good, she yearned for bigger things, so when she graduated from Kutztown High School, she and a friend hopped on a bus and set off for a new life in Washington, DC. Her strict mother was less than pleased with her decision to leave, but she gave her blessing with the caveat that if she left Lenhartsville, she couldn’t return for at least one year. That would not be a problem. It was 1954, and the federal government had plenty of secretarial jobs for young women. Carol went to work for the Federal Bureau of Investigation as a secretary on J. Edgar Hoover's Russian desk. She spent many an evening on “dates” with FBI agents tasked with keeping a watchful eye on the Russian diplomats who lived in the District at the time. This position helped to define her, and it was a job she truly loved.
One evening while watching a friend’s child, Carol met their young, eligible neighbor, Frank Schroeder, and the two began dating. It blossomed into love, and soon after their marriage in 1961, Frank joined the Central Intelligence Agency. The couple spent most of the next 12 years living abroad. They moved to Athens, Greece, where Carol’s first son, Steve, was born. Then they were off to Okinawa, where they had their second son Bill, followed by several years in Bangkok, Thailand. The couple’s daughter Susan was born when they returned to Fairfax, Va., for a brief period in 1970. They moved to Athens for a second time, followed by Frankfurt, Germany. While living overseas was interesting, they were not the easiest years for a young mother of three whose husband was frequently away doing dangerous work in unknown locations. However, Carol was always supportive of Frank’s career and was an active part of the network of CIA wives in each station where they spent time.
They settled back in Fairfax, Va., in 1974.
Never one to sit idly by, and with the kids in school, she took on a part-time office management position with Yarger & Associates. While it was an easy job for Carol and she enjoyed being back in the workforce, her greatest joy was her family. Her children were her priority. She was always attentive and available, she supported her children in whatever they took on, and she reveled in their successes. Later, she would show that same love to her six grandchildren, whom she adored. Carol loved nothing more than to be surrounded by her grandkids and when that wasn’t possible, to hear about everything they were doing.
Her sister’s family was very special to Carol. After Laura died in 1983, Carol remained close to Laura’s husband Alvin, her nephew Clair and her nieces Snook, Jane, and Jane’s husband, Ronnie. They loved playing pinochle, going to the casinos and traveling together.
Carol was a wonderful and engaging person. She was always there to lend an ear and to offer words of encouragement to her friends, her extended family, and her children. Often, late at night (she was a night owl), her kids would bring their friends home, and Carol would sit up with them, making late-night snacks. She was the mom everyone loved and wanted to hang out with.
And while Carol wasn’t the life of the party — preferring iced tea to the occasional Old Fashioned — or someone who enjoyed large group events, she had several very long and dear friendships that lasted decades, even after she and Frank moved to Palm Springs in 2018. Some of her closest friends were Carolyn, Laura, Jane, Mae, Dottie, and Becky, just to name a few.
From casino slot machines, bingo, and card games like Euchre and Phase 10 to online games like Words With Friends and Hey Day, Carol never passed up an opportunity to play games with people she loved. Time spent with the kids and grandkids always involved Five Crowns, Hand and Foot, or Rummikub. And she was a daily Wordle enthusiast, always sharing her daily ranking with her kids. Her zealousness for games and good sportsmanship were unmatched.
Carol is survived by her husband, Frank, her son Steve and wife Rachael, her son Bill, her daughter Susan and husband Bob, her grandchildren, Eden, Kaylin, Zachary, Aidan, Jaden and Zoe, her nieces, Ruth Ann "Snook" Adam and Jane and husband Ronnie Schappell and many other great nieces and nephews all of Hamburg, Penn.
The family will have a private gathering in Palm Springs, and later Carol’s ashes will be laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in her honor to The St. Joseph’s Indian School, a charity that was dear to her heart.
https://www.stjo.org
