Carolyn S.B.

Carolyn S.B., 27 July 16, '67 - September 14, '94 cancer

"Teacher exuberant in life, courageous facing death"
Appeared in the Detroit Free Press, Saturday, Sept. 17, 1994
by Free Press Staff Writer Patricia Montemurri

Carolyn S. B. was married five months ago in the church where she lectured, rang the bells in choir, and nurtured the faith that sustained her through a five-year battle with brain cancer.

To a hymn called "Come Journey With Me." she walked down the aisle at the St. Michael Catholic Church in Sterling Heights on April 9. She married David B., who met her when they both taught at Chippewa Valley High School.

At St. Michaels, on Monday, her family and friends will gather again for her funeral mass. Mrs. B., 27, died Wednesday at her parent's home.

She had inspired many people during her recurring illness. Two weeks ago, she insisted on attending a cancer support group, even though she was so weak her husband had to carry her inside to the meeting.. "She'd promised another cancer patient that she'd be there." said her husband, "and it was important to her to keep that promise."

Her mother, Mary S., said "Carolyn was a combination of love, compassion, perseverance, exuberance, strength and Godliness who lived life to the fullest."

Fascinated by the Spanish language and culture, Mrs. Bassett became a Spanish teacher after earning a degree from Wayne State University in 1990. She was also a Phi Beta Kappa at WSU.

Two years ago, she was awarded a graduate fellowship from Bowling Green State University in Ohio to spend five months studying in Madrid.

As a student teacher and later a substitute teacher, she returned to her alma mater, Chippewa Valley High School, where she had been a member of the National Honor Society and earned a National Merit scholarship to WSU.

When she dated her future husband, he courted her by taking her to Mackinac Island's Grand Hotel. She fell in love with the hotel's profusion of springtime tulips -- and him. For their honeymoon, she travelled to Costa Rica and returned once again to Spain.

Besides her husband and mother, survivors include her father, William S., three brothers and one sister.