Rev. Joseph William "Bill" Carroll

Tupelo- Rev. Joseph William “Bill” Carroll, 90,  passed from this life Tuesday afternoon January 8, 2018 at his home at the Traceway Retirement Community. Rev. Carroll served in the Methodist pastorate before moving to Tupelo to lead Methodist Senior Services of Mississippi, beginning with the construction of Traceway Retirement Community, where he would eventually spend his last 25 years.

Bill Carroll was born in Montgomery, Alabama December 10, 1928 to Joe and Evelyn Hardin Carroll. He lived in Jackson for many years as a boy before moving to Tupelo, where he graduated from high school in 1946. Feeling a call to the ministry of God’s Church during his freshman year at the University of Mississippi, Bill transferred to Millsaps College and joined the Pre-Ministerial Society and the Kappa Sigma fraternity, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in History in 1950. After a year of church work in Vicksburg, Bill was married to Evelyn Newman, and the newlyweds rode the train to Atlanta, where Bill studied at Emory University’s Candler School of Theology, earning his Master of Divinity in 1954.

Following divinity school, Bill was ordained as an Elder in the North Mississippi Conference of the United Methodist Church, where he served appointments at Methodist churches in Bruce, Nettleton, and Eupora. While serving local congregations, Bill began to feel a particular calling to care for “God’s older children.” In 1964, he accepted a position as director of what would become Methodist Senior Services and began the early planning stages for the faith-based retirement home that would become Traceway Manor. After seeing the first facilities at Traceway come to fruition in 1967, Bill served three years as pastor of Oxford-University UMC, spent a year establishing a retirement facility for Wesley Homes in Athens, Georgia, and then moved back to Tupelo, where he served as president of Methodist Senior Services, expanding its reach across the entire state of Mississippi, until his retirement at the end of 1993. During this time Bill and Evelyn returned to the church family of First United Methodist Church from whence Bill’s ministry journey began. In retirement they moved into a cottage at Traceway, reaping the fruits of his life’s work and enjoying life together until Evelyn’s death in 2006. For his compassionate, novel work with aging populations, Bill was awarded a Doctor of Divinity degree from his alma mater in 1989, named Millsaps Alumnus of the Year in 1994, and Candler School of Theology’s Distinguished Alumnus in 2006.

In 2010, Bill married former classmate Sue Kenney and continued to enjoy life at Traceway and in the Tupelo community, surrounded by family and friends, even in the face of an Alzheimer’s diagnosis in 2014. He treasured this time with his new extended family, as well as travelling with Sue at home and abroad.

Bill had an inexhaustible curiosity and pursued numerous hobbies. After spending college summers as a counselor at Camp Lake Stephens, he fell in love with the outdoors as a venue for ministry and recreation. As an Eagle Scout, he supported scouting in a variety of capacities, as a troop sponsor and leader, as a national jamboree assistant scoutmaster, and as Camp Yocona chaplain. In 1976 Bill purchased the first in a succession of family houseboats known as the Shady Lady, which he captained through many adventures up and down the Tennessee River and Tenn-Tom Waterway, always an amiable skipper even when the engines did not follow his example. Early in his ministry, after inheriting a backyard garden from a previous parsonage tenant, he developed a love of gardening, and every neighbor was welcome to pick from his blueberry bushes. He also remained active in civic affairs, serving for a time as president of the local Rotary Club chapter and as a member of the Board of Trustees for Methodist Hospitals of Memphis. An abiding interest in history led him in retirement to co-author Tupelo Military Institute: A Forgotten Chapter in Our History and to maintain a lifelong letter correspondence with English relatives. He was an avid reader of all Sherlock Holmes-related literature and the city’s resident expert on model trains, orchestrating yearly Christmas exhibits for Traceway Manor and instigating the model train display at Tupelo’s Oren Dunn Museum. Finally, he remained loyal to his alma mater, rarely missing a Millsaps College home football game.

Bill is survived by his wife Sue Kenney Carroll;  sons William Pearson “Bill” Carroll (Joel Adams) of Greensboro, North Carolina and David Wesley Carroll (Laura) of Madison; three grandchildren, Benjamin, Kathryn, and Mary Evelyn Carroll; and half-brother Walter Cade "Huck" Carroll of Montgomery.

He is preceded in death by his parents, his brother Jack, and wife Evelyn.

Services honoring his life will be 11 a.m. Friday, January 11, 2018 at First United Methodist Church in Tupelo. Graveside services will follow in Tupelo Memorial Park. W.E. Pegues Funeral Directors is in charge of the arrangements.

Visitation will be from 9 a.m. until service time Friday, January 11, 2018 in the Gathering Room at First United Methodist Church.

Honorary pallbearers will include clergy of the Mississippi Conference, staff of Methodist Senior Services, and the Tupelo High School Class of 1946.

Memorials may be given to Methodist Senior Services of Mississippi, MSS Development Office P.O. Box 1567 Tupelo, MS 38802, The Millsaps College Paul and Mary Giles Hardin Scholarship, 1701 North State St. Jackson, MS 39210 or Camp Lake Stephens, 117 Camp Lake Stephens Drive Oxford, MS 38655.

Expressions of sympathy may be left at www.peguesfuneralhome.com .