Carolynn Nelson Churchill

Carolynn Nelson Churchill, born Carol Lynn Nelson on May 1, 1935 to Allie and Julius Nelson in Los Angeles, CA, and loving wife of her late husband William (Bill) Arthur Churchill (6/24/1934-11/18/2009) passed on August 11, 2016 in Tempe, AZ. She is survived by her three children, daughter Catherine Evelyn and her husband Dr. Jeffrey Max Collins, daughter Leslie Elizabeth and her husband Russell Granneman, and son Dr. Christopher William and his wife Dr. Kelly Macauley Churchill, and her six grandchildren, Jesse Allgrove, Will Collins, Paige Granneman Knapp, Tanya and Ben Churchill, and Sophie Serino, and her three great-grandchildren, Zoe Collins, and Grace and Levi Allgrove. Carol is also survived by her sister, Mary Alice McGuire.

Carol met her husband Bill while a sophomore at UC Berkeley. They were married in 1955. During the 1960s, they lived in San Jose, CA. From the 1972 until the mid-1990s, they lived in Portola Valley, CA, following which they lived in Half Moon Bay, CA, and then from 2000+ onward, lived in Zypher Cove, NV in home with a beautiful view of Lake Tahoe. Carol was an accountant. In the 1970s, she worked at Sunset Magazine and Books of Menlo Park, following which she took over as the chief financial officer and manager for the business she helped Bill build, William A. Churchill, Architect, AIA. At one point, their firm had up to 35 employees. With her management of the firm, Carol and Bill were involved in 100s of projects that included building beautiful high-end homes in the San Francisco Bay Area, many of which won prestigious design awards.

Carol and Bill enjoyed each other and spending leisure time with their many life-long and close friends, traveling the world, and playing tennis and golf. They particularly enjoyed the Monterey area, including Spyglass and Pebble Beach. After Bill passed in 2009, Carol lived with her daughter Cathy Collins for a brief period and then moved to Solano Beach, CA., near San Diego, CA., where she close to her sister and nieces and nephews. In the fall of 2015, she moved to Tempe, AZ to be closer to her immediate family and grandchildren.