Caroline Hartsell McCauley

Caroline Hartsell McCauley

Greenville - Caroline Hartsell McCauley died on June 23, 2021. She was predeceased by her husband, Bobby Joe McCauley. They were married in Travelers Rest, SC, at Enoree Baptist Church on August 26, 1955. She and Bob were lifelong residents of South Carolina, with brief stints in Tampa, Florida and Roswell, Georgia, associated with Bob's career with Ciba-Geigy Pharmaceuticals. She is survived by her daughter, Patricia McCauley Blumer of St. Helena, SC, and her husband, Robert J. Blumer, Jr. She is survived by two grandsons, Robert J. Blumer, III, of Los Angeles, CA, and his fiancé, Nina Jamil Lahham, and Hastings McCauley Blumer of Greenville, and his wife, Kristen Welch Blumer. She had two great-grandchildren - Berkeley Annabelle Blumer and Bear Hastings Blumer, both of Greenville.

She was born in Brevard, NC, on May 6, 1933, to the Reverend Paul Gamalial Hartsell and Fannie Bragg Hartsell. She was predeceased by her sister, Polly McKee Parker and brothers Dr. Harold M. Hartsell and Charles Kent Hartsell. She was a graduate of Abbeville High School where she was a cheerleader and choral musician. She was a graduate of Mars Hill College in Mars Hill, NC, and Furman University in Greenville, SC., where she earned Bachelor of Arts degrees and majored in music.

Her love of music led to a teaching career spanning decades and later volunteer conducting in many church settings. She taught high school choral music at Greenville High School, JL Mann High School and Laurens District 55 High School. Throughout her career her choral music students routinely won positions in the South Carolina Allstate Honors Chorus. She was instrumental in Allstate Honors Chorus auditions and the Singing Christmas Tree in Greenville. She also conducted high school honors choirs on the state level. She was a small but mighty figure in the classroom and the concert hall all the while ruling her singers with a firm but kind hand thus forming lasting relationships and now fond memories with former students across the state.

When asked, she cheerfully served as interim adult choir conductor at Clinton First Baptist Church and New Hope Baptist Church in Cross Anchor, SC.

She and Bob were active members of Taylors First Baptist Church. Caroline was the interim conductor of the Taylors First Baptist Church adult choir over 50 years ago. Decades later she found herself once again conducting some of those same people when she led the Taylors First Baptist Legacy Choir for three years. She is fondly remembered as a force who could elicit beautiful music from volunteer choristers all the while maintaining her kind demeanor and sense of humor. She and Bob were faithful church members and community participants. In later years they were diligent volunteers and contributors to the Greenville Salvation Army.

Caroline was an artist and enjoyed gardening. She was a generous hostess and a compassionate friend. Her kind demeanor and strong convictions have imprinted on family and friends as a roadmap by which to live a quietly full and generous life.

A service to celebrate her life will be led by longtime friend, Lindsay O'Rear and will be held in the chapel at Taylors First Baptist Church on Wednesday, June 30, at 2 o'clock.