Tom Carroll died on May 1, 2007 at age of 82. Tom was born on March 27, 1925 in Shandrum Charleville Ireland to parents Thomas and Ellen (O’Neill) Carroll. Tom was preceded in death by his wife Lois In 2000.

Tom was the oldest of six children. He was educated by the Christian Brothers as a child. He served in the Irish Air Force before immigrating to the United States in his mid-20’s. In Kansas he met his future bride Lois Lowe and on Oct. 7, 1951 they married. In 1952 their son Kevin was born. They then moved to the state of Washington and soon added twins Maureen and Kathleen to the family in 1959.

Tom’s desire to live somewhere that reminded him of the green fields of Ireland led to a move to Oak Harbor in 1960. Tom began teaching at the junior high school and soon moved to the high school where he taught until his retirement. As a literature teacher Tom loved to challenge young minds to read and interpret the words they read to take on a deeper meaning. His favorite hobby was parsing the meaning of words and phrases. Tom was a lifelong consumer of the written word encouraging his children to explore the pages within the covers of a book, magazine, newspaper — it all counted.

Also, Tom was an avid fisherman who spent many hours with his friends “on the boat” catching dinner or just catching up with his friends. Tom is survived by his granddaughter Keely Marie Carroll-Mahan, his son Kevin (Pressy) Carroll and their son Mark, his daughters Maureen (Morgan) Carroll, Kathleen Carroll and surrogate daughter Cindy Thomas. He is also survived by his niece Carol (Paul) Blecha and nephew Pat Mayer. He also has three sisters in Ireland, Rita Carroll, Mary Carroll and Eileen O’Sullivan. He will be remembered by his family and many, many friends for his charm, wit and ability to “turn a phrase.”

Services for Tom will be held Thursday, May 10, at 4 p.m. at Burley Funeral Chapel, 30 SE Ely St., Oak Harbor. Please bring memories to share.