Carol S. Ward

Carol Sue Parker Ward of Mound City, Mo., died early Thursday afternoon, Sept. 25, 2025 in Mosaic Life Care's Intensive Care unit at St. Joseph, Mo. She had undergone surgery on Monday, Sept.22, to ease symptoms related to peripheral artery disease, but post-op, multiple complications arose. She was 72. Celebration of life arrangements are pending. Final resting place will be in the company of four beloved pets who had gone before, Binky, Trinket, Rosey and Rascal. A graveside service will be sometime next spring in conjunction with the inurnment of her brother Danny Parker, who died July 6. Carol had given him a home and health care support since 2017. A resident of Mound City since the early 1980s, Carol worked for 20 years at Exide Technologies, now Forrest City Facility lead smelting plant. She retired from her night shift guard and safety duties there in 2022. She was a devoted animal lover, having horses earlier in life and taking in many rescue cats and dogs over the year. She also tended dozens of yard and house plants, including cacti, mini citrus trees, a desert rose, and a weeping ficus that grew so large it almost needed a room of its own. Carol was born in 1953 in Jackson County, Mo., the fifth of six children. Her parents, Vivian and Edward Parker, and other extended family had moved to the Kansas City area in the 1940s from Athelstan in southwest Iowa to pursue work opportunities. Carol began elementary school in Parkville, Mo., and in 1961 her mother moved back to Athelstan with Carol and two of her siblings. Her schooling continued in the Bedford, Iowa, Consolidated School District, completing it through GED. Hers was a creative spirit with broad-ranging interests. An avid reader, when schedule allowed, she immersed herself in an entire series, such as Jean M. Auel's epic Earth's Children saga and the Appalachian-set novels of Ron Rash. She enjoyed doing counted cross stitch and jigsaw puzzles, and she collected Western landscape prints, odd advertising, art glass, holiday ornaments, and High Fructose magazine issues. Her lay botanical and medical knowledge was extensive, in part from managing her own heart disease and her brother's diabetes and renal disease. Among those mourning her loss and keeping her memory are her son, Anthony Parker of Mound City; her sister, Norma Parker Wilson of Eugene, Ore.; nieces Brenda Clark Taylor of Esbon, Kan., and Angela Flores of El Dorado Springs, Mo.; nephews, David Clark of Adrian, Mo., and Sam Clark of Alaska; long-time next door neighbor Brenda Ryan, and co-worker and friend Nancy Reynolds. Donations in Carol Sue's honor directed to either local animal rescue and shelter efforts, or heart disease research and treatment are appreciated in lieu of flowers.