Juanita Carol Hood Blackhurst was born February 17, 1943 in Ft Smith, Arkansas to Howard Thomas Hood Sr and Ethel Imogene Chomor. She was a beautiful and loving child and was adored by her mother, aunts and grandparents with whom she lived with for the first few years of her life. Her “daddy” was stationed in Germany for World War II when she was born and she would not meet him until she was 3 years old. He carried a picture of her in his pocket until they would meet. Her mom, Imo, was the most pivotal person in her life. She has always had an enormous love and respect for her. Carol was a joy to those around her and she always felt so lucky to have so many love her. Her family consisted of her young mother, 3 aunts and grandparents all in a small home in Union Town, Arkansas. Carol always told us that this is where she was most happy. When her “Daddy” returned from war he found work in California and the family followed him and set up a home where she would be raised. Carol told us that, although she was very young she was devastated to leave her Aunts and Grandparents home in Arkansas. She was a true Southerner at heart.
As a child, she loved to roller-skate and dance and helped take care of her sister and brother. She did not like milk as a baby and so her mother replaced it with chocolate milk and she was hooked on it from there on out. Chocolate was her vice. She was a beautiful girl with her dark hair and green eyes. She enjoyed all things a typical girl would; her dolls and her dresses and watching her mother cook and sew. She always had a love for animals, especially dogs, some she loved to hold and pet and others she would love from afar. One of her biggest fears was to be near anything with feathers. One of the funniest stories she would tell would be of her being chased and pecked by a chicken at a young age and she would never recover. Then later, when Aaron brought home a fighting rooster to the house on Geneva Road, she was once again terrified every time the rooster would attack anyone within range. Needless to say, she was leery of anything with feathers.
At 12 years old, she was introduced to the Gospel by her Aunt Madge when she invited the Missionaries to teach Carols family. Carol was able to to Baptized along with her Mother and Sister when she was 13. As a teenager, Carol had many friends and was a great example to all. She loved to dance and while attending Pacifica High School, was part of the drill team. She also went to all the church dances on Saturday nights. As sweet as she was, she was never without a date. She had a weakness for any boy with great hair and a cool car. Many boys tried to catch her along the way but it was extremely important for her to find a worthy priesthood holder. Carol loved to listen to music on her record player that she received one Christmas as a teenager. She listened to Elvis and other rock n roll music that she could dance around her room to.
After high school, she applied and was accepted to BYU. She then got cold feet because she didn’t want to “move to Utah and marry a farm boy”. As fate would have it, that is exactly what she did. As Larry finished up school, Carol worked as a telephone operator to make ends meet. After he graduated, Larry got a job with the scouting organization and they moved to Half Moon Bay, California for a year or so. Carol was thrilled to be a bit closer to her parents and she was even more thrilled to learn she was pregnant with her first child. In 1967, they moved back to Utah and built a house on Geneva Road where they would go on to raise their family. Carol’s greatest joy in life was her children. Her kindness and unconditional love was apparent to all those who met her. Aaron was born in 1967 and was a very active little boy that tried her patience daily. When Brook followed in 1970, she was very ill after the delivery and always claimed she had the “Hong Kong Flu”. In 1970, she had her hands full with 2 little boys and was expecting a third any day. Her Doctor told her she was measuring far too big in her pregnancy and maybe they had miscalculated her date. He decided they should induce her labor and get this baby out. Chad was born and was much smaller that the doctor anticipated. While they allowed Carol to rest, the nurse kept noticing that her belly was not quite going down as it should and about 30 minutes later the idea occurred to the Doctor that he had better check for another baby and sure enough, Chris was born and Carol was surprised and shocked with twins. Carol was a devoted mother and worked very hard every day to be the nurturer that her children needed. A couple years later, while expecting another child again in 1974, Carol and Larry had a little fight and Carol was so upset that she packed some bags and was taking her 4 boys under the age of 6 and going to go back to her Mom in California. She took the old farm truck and made it all the way to a hotel in Provo. The boys drove her crazy all night jumping from bed to bed and she decided maybe she had not completely thought out her plan. Angela was born soon after that and Carol and Larry were thrilled to finally have a little girl. They thought she would mellow out the boys, little did they know, Angela would be more trouble than all the boys put together. Heather was born next in 1977 and from the minute she was born she was in Carols back pocket. Heather adored Carol and wanted to be like her in every way. After having 6 kids, Carol suffered a couple of heart breaking miscarriages but knew that her family was not complete. Lafe came to her later in 1982 and was Carols baby and he still is. She was fiercely protective of all her kids but when it came to Lafe she would not tolerate anyone that would even look at him the wrong way. Carol did not in any way have a temper but the few times we would see her get riled up were the times that she was defending her Children. One time in particular, Brook, Chad and Chris were fighting on the school bus and the bus driver had had enough. Mid-route he pulled into Carol and Larrys drive way and laid on the horn as loud and as long as he could. Carol came running out in a panic thinking something was terribly wrong. The bus driver proceeded to tell her what the boys were doing hoping she would handle it and he was very upset with them. Well, that bus driver didn’t know what he was in for that day with Carol. She bit back in a way he never expected and let him have it. She told him that her boys had NEVER done anything wrong and if he had any sense at all that he had better get the bus off her property. Shocked, the driver quietly let the boys out and realized that he had messed with the wrong momma bear that day protecting her cubs. Whether they were right or wrong, Carol ALWAYS stood beside her kids. In additional to her natural children she hosted 3 Foster children at different times, and was also a surrogate mother to countless friends of her children. So many people have reached out to tell us that she was their “second Mom”; such a tribute to her nurturing spirit. Carols entire existence was devoted to her husband and children. She spent many hours cooking, canning and trying to feed every soul that walked in her house. She was always worried about everyone else’s needs before her own. She had a funny little trick that when you would ask how she is doing she would change the subject back to you. She was the most selfless person ever to be born. She attended countless ball games, school functions, dance recitals, stock shows, parent teacher conferences, principal offices and other functions for her children; always by their side and always helping them be their best.
Carol never realized that there was one thing that would rival being a mother. But when she became a Grandmother her world changed again and she was over-joyed to be at almost every single birth of a grandchild. She was blessed to have 22 Grandchildren and one on the way. 2014 she was thrilled to welcome her first great-grandson. She has babysat countless hours and been there to rock babies, change diapers, take naps with, read to, tickle backs, drive to school and make every single child and grandchild feel special. She had a way about her that made everyone feel like they were her favorite. She knew specific details about every person’s life in her family. When you would visit with Carol she would know about tests at school, ball games, situations with friends, health issues, who was dating who, work issues and any other detail that she sincerely paid attention to.
So many special memories from the grand children to share: here are just a few. Listening to Elvis and dancing in the kitchen, feeding stray cats, sitting on the porch eating a Popsicle and watermelon, watching the boys haul hay, making lunch together, teaching the kids how to work and earn money, buying old toys at the DI and cleaning them up, cutting out articles from papers and magazine for everyone in the family, buying school supplies, having cookies in the kitchen at all times setting up decorations for each holiday and taking the kids to Strawberry Days.
Carols character was unmatched. She touched so many hearts quietly and humbly not looking for attention or accolades. Her acts of kindness were done anonymously. We would find out years later about notes that she sent or people that she reached out to during trails. She loved to write personal notes to friends and family giving them strength and encouragement. For example we would find out years after her passing from the ladies that she served in the Young Womens and Relief Society that each time a member or teacher would have a birthday she would bake a cake and take it to their home and spend time with them without wanting recognition. She made phone calls to her children daily and knew all the details of their lives and made sure the sons and daughter in laws felt loved and appreciated too. Sometimes, Mother in laws get a bad rap, but Carol was cherished by each of her in laws and especially by her children’s spouses.
As long as we can remember, Carol has struggled with her health, always feeling tired and run down. While raising her family, she pushed through tough times everyday. Her last few years were especially hard on her little body and we all watched her try to smile through her pain. Another little “funny” she would do is, I would say “mom, how are you feeling today”? She would say “pretty good”. I would say “do you lie”? An she would smile and say “yes”. As kids we were blessed enough to serve and care for her over her last 2 years and try to emulate the love that she has instilled in us all of our lives.
