Carol A. Hamlin

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Carol A. Hamlin, 64, of Highland, passed away at 2:24 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 21, 2009 at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, Mo.

Her body was gifted to Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Mo.

A memorial gathering will be held from 3 to 5 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 6 at Cypress Restaurant & Lounge.

Miss Hamlin was born March 19, 1945, a daughter to Thomas C. Hamlin Jr. and Phoebe Ann Baldwin Ford Hamlin. She was born with Turner Syndrome and also had polio as a small child. Carol learned to speak, read and write at the St. Louis School for the Deaf.

The family moved from Edwardsville, Ill. to Highland in 1956- Carol attended Highland schools. She became a Girl Scout. She also helped her family with the house and her younger siblings.

As a young woman, Carol was an avid Elvis fan and loved the Saturday night stock car races. She was a homemaker and also had worked at Cypress Restaurant & Lounge in Highland.

Carol lived independently for 25 years. She developed a fondness for the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team and St. Louis Rams football team.

In 1986, she developed Type 2 Brittle Diabetes. Despite this, Carol continued to volunteer at the Highland Humane Society.

She spent three years living in a group home in New Baden, Ill. and moved to Highland Health Care Center in 2005.

Carol loved animals, followed the world news and always had an appetite for a good steak.

She is survived by her mother, Phoebe Ann Baldwin Hamlin of Highland, Ill.; sisters, Judith Ann Hamlin of Ferndale, Mich., Patricia Ann Hamlin of Hollywood, Fla., Wendy Ann Hamlin Vaughan of Highland, Ill. and Elizabeth Ann Hamlin (Glenn) Scholebo of Sadorus, Ill.; brother, Thomas Clyde (Paulette) Hamlin of Du Quoin; five nieces and nephews and five great-nieces and great-nephews.

She was preceded in death by her father, Thomas C. Hamlin Jr.

Memorial donations may be made to the Highland Animal Shelter or Water Safety Fund/Highland Area Community Foundation.

Expressions of sympathy can be sent to the family by visiting www.spengel-boulanger.com or by email at condolences@spengel-boulanger.com