Carla Dearing

Carla Regina (Bombassei) Dearing

Richland

Carla Regina (Bombassei) Dearing, 78, of Richland died on Sunday, Dec. 7, 2014 at The Reflections in Battle Creek.  She was born on Sept. 3, 1936, the daughter of Simone and Irene Bombassei, and lived nearly all her life in Battle Creek as a devoted wife and mother, a prominent businesswoman and a tireless community servant. She graduated from Lakeview High School, attended the University of Michigan, and married her husband of 59 years, Jimmie E. Dearing, on Sept. 10, 1955. She spent the next 20 years at home, raising their eight children, and then began a successful real estate career at RE/MAX Perrett Assoc. She was the 1989 Battle Creek Realtor of the Year, earned RE/MAX Executive Club honors for 10-plus years, was an officer and director of the Battle Creek Area Association of Realtors and served as a delegate to the Michigan and National Associations of Realtors. A woman of kindness, compassion and service, she touched countless lives in Battle Creek.  She was a board member or otherwise active in organizations that include The United Way, Junior Chamber of Commerce, Downtown Development Authority, St. Philip Catholic Church, Teens Inc., Teens Encounter Christ, Habitat for Humanity, Food Bank of South Central Michigan, Pegasus and Wellspring, an international house of prayer that she founded later in life. In 1997, she was honored with a Distinguished Alumni Award from Lakeview High School. Her large extended family will cherish their memories of her as a free spirit, a fabulous cook and an equestrian.

She was preceded in death by her son, Christopher, her parents, and her brother, Thomas Bombassei. She is survived by her husband; five daughters: Talia Champlin of Battle Creek, Carla E. Dearing of Louisville, Ky., Lisa Damron of Battle Creek, Anastasia Dearing, and Tiziana Dearing of Newton, Mass; three sons: Tony Dearing of Basking Ridge, N.J., and William Dearing and Theodore Dearing, both of Battle Creek; a sister, Adele Lenz, of Ludington; 16 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

The family will receive friends at the Richard A. Henry Funeral Home on Friday, December 12, 2014 from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m., with the Rosary to be recited at 4 p.m. A funeral mass will be celebrated at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, December 13, 2014 at St. Joseph Catholic  Church, 61 N. 23rd St., Battle Creek. Interment will follow at Memorial Park Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Food Bank of South Central Michigan or to St. Ambrose Parish in Parchment.