Carole F. Toby

Carole F. Toby, age 83 of Clinton Twp., died unexpectedly after a medical procedure on February 1, 2025. She was born on April 20, 1941 in Washington DC to Loren Schuneman and Violet (Renolett) Schuneman. They divorced and Violet and Carole moved to Michigan where Violet and Earl Maahs married and Carole was adopted by Earl.
Carole "Kitty" attended Atonement Lutheran and Fordson High School. She was a champion speller, joined the synchronized swim team, a finalist on the Detroit Free Press WXYZ Quizdown program. She spent all day every day with her best friend Cathy Calleja and remained life long friends with her.
Carole graduated from Cosmetology School and worked as a stylist in the Fisher Building. She styled local and national celebrities such as J.P. McCarthy Lions players Mike Lucci and Greg Landry, and Meatloaf when the Broadway show "Hair" came to the Fisher Theater.
Kitty and Donald Case Married and had 2 sons Gregory J. Case and Jason T. Case. She was widowed in 1973 and went to work for the United States Post Office.
Carole and her sons and Nephew Timothy Case lived in Dearborn Heights. Carole enjoyed going to Sivanda Ashram Yoga Camp in Montreal Canada and Academic College text book recordings for the Blind and raising Afghan hound show dogs and taking her sons to hockey and even put on a play at Gregory's school sharing her love of theater, fitness, and Halloween with her family.
Carole married Louis Toby in 1977 and welcomed a daughter Nichole Toby (Thomas) Budnick to the family. They moved to Harrison Township building a home on the water. Carole tried and mixed at least 20 colors of stain until she found the exact color she wanted for the staircase. She painstakingly picked a wild color with a fabulous name for each wall in the house. She invented "extra" by bringing her Siamese cat to Sherwin Williams to get the perfect beige. Carole enjoyed living on the water and going out on Lake St Clair on the family Chris Craft, gardening and dancing and took up scuba diving.
Carole returned to the work force after taking the civil service exam and attended the Earl Demarse academy in Lansing an started her career as a Michigan Department of Corrections officer.
She worked at Huron Valley Men's Maximum-Security Prison, Huron Valley Women's Protective Custody, Robert Scott Women's Facility and finally opened Macomb Regional Correctional Facility where she retired from in 1998. She ran cell blocks, Kitchen crew, and qualified on assault rifle gun tower position. She found a sister in her co worker Marsha Taylor and they enjoyed a lifelong bond.
Retirement was the start of a new chapter for Carole and she was trained at Wayne State University on ABA and early intervention communication skills. She excelled at working with autistic children and they loved interacting with her. Carole loved going to Lifetree café and began working at the Macomb Literacy ESL partnership.
Carole loved getting her hair done and had every color and style at least twice. She was an avid reader and a fixture at the library. She loved driving anywhere and would ride along with you just for the adventure. She loved working out at the gym despite any orthopedic malady she was facing. She prayed about everything and for everyone she met. She said exactly what she was thinking even if she had to apologize for it after. She never met an animal or a desert she didn't like.
Carole's favorite way to spend her time was her ladies Monday Bible study group at Trinity Lutheran Church. The friendship and bonds she made with her prayer warriors sustained her until the end of her life.
Carole's most precious and greatest accomplishment was her family. Whether she made you from scratch or claimed you as her own
She is survived by her children; Gregory J. Case, Jason (Jennifer) Case and Nichole (Thomas) Budnick, Antoinette Windhurst Stacey Lynn Black-Shaw (Tyler)
grandchildren; Gregory L. Case, Alexia M. Case, Madeline Case and Olivia Case. Thomas Budnick Jr (Kristy) Thomas Budnick III, Katie Budnick Mary Overway(Jeremy) Dominic, Joseph, Alexander, Lincoln, Christopher Budnick (Kim) Sidalee Emily Budnick, Kaylyn (Kyle) Sullivan, Sabrina, Asher Tyler Shaw Jr, Angel Shaw, Joshua Shaw, Keith Hayse Nicholas Hayse, Natalie Hayse, ansd Angelina Hayse
She was preceded in death by her husband, Donald M. Case and her parents Earl and Violet Maahs. Loren Schuneman, Daughter Jennifer Hayse