In loving memory of Carolyn (Cal) King – Beloved wife, mother, grandmother, and Gma. Cal passed quietly at home on Sunday, May 2nd surrounded by her daughters. Cal was born in Quincy, MA on June 7, 1931 to Alexander Gordon Bell and Bella Chapman Bell. It was there in Quincy where she became a lifelong fan of the Boston sports teams. She graduated from Quincy High School in 1949. In August of 1954 she left New England to join the US Air Force where she became a radar plotter.
She was stationed at Stewart AFB, Newburg, NY. It was there that she met and married A1C Harold (Hal) Lewis King, November 5, 1955. Although her time in the USAF was brief, she was very proud of her military service. One of the highlights was being involved as part of the Air Force wide team that started tracking Santa in 1955. She was honorably discharged prior to giving birth to the first of their four children. It was at this point she began a new career as an Air Force wife, dutifully joining Hal at his assigned stations in Europe, up and down the East Coast and in Midwest. During this time, she belonged to and or led numerous NCO Wives Clubs. Cal also held many part-time jobs throughout her life, from administrative assistant to several retail positions and she even started her own cake decorating business after graduating from the Wilton School of Cake Decorating in Chicago, in 1971.
Upon retirement, Hal & Cal moved the family to a "neutral" location (Hal a diehard NY Yankees fan and Cal a lifelong Boston Red Sox fan) in Essex Junction, VT where they settled to raise their family. Cal loved being with people, especially children. Her passion was teaching children all ages how to decorate cakes, create gingerbread houses and panorama sugar eggs. She was well known to many of the Chittenden county recreation departments as the "Cake Lady". Her talents sparked enough interest that she was interviewed on the local television program, "Across the Fence", several times throughout the 70’s & 80’s.
Cal is survived by her brother Robert Bell, wife Carly; daughters Valerie Rittershausen, husband Paul, Karen Celia, Heather King and son Alan R King, wife Kelly. She also leaves behind 13 grandchildren and 16 great grandchildren plus numerous nieces and nephews and several close family friends. She was pre-deceased by her husband Hal in 2008.
The family would like to express special thanks for the loving care given to Cal by: Mansfield Place Staff, the UVMMC Dialysis Team, SSTA Drivers and the UVMMC Home Health Care & Hospice Team. She was treated like a queen and appreciated each and everyone of these team members!
A zoom celebration of her life will take place at 2pm on 6 June 2021, please join us at https://mailchi.mp/alcvt.org/cal-king-memorial-service Internment for both Cal and her husband Hal will be later this fall at the Vermont Veterans Cemetery in Randolph, VT. Memorial contributions in her memory can be made to the Red Sox Foundation (
https://www.redsoxfoundation.org/donate/) or The Vermont Military Museum at 789 Vermont National Guard Road Colchester, VT 05446-3099...e-mail Museum Admin at museumadm@gmail.com. Please direct any inquiries to Karen Celia at 802-233-9442.