Carol Gilliland of Perry

Carol Gilliland, 76, of Perry passed away Saturday, March 24, 2018, at the Perry Lutheran Home in Perry, Iowa.

Funeral services will be held Friday, March 30 at 11 a.m. at the First United Methodist Church in Perry. Visitation will be Thursday, March 29 from 1-7 p.m., with family present from 5-7 p.m. at the Carris Family Funeral Home and Cremation Care in Perry. Burial will be at the Violet Hill Cemetery in Perry.

Memorials will be given to the American Cancer Society and may be left at the funeral home. Online condolences may be sent at www.carrisfuneralhome.com.

Carol Lea Gilliland was born Sept. 4, 1941, in Perry, Iowa, to Roy and Mary Jane (Porter) Gardiner.

She attended school at the Gardiner Consolidated School and then Perry High School.

Carol was united in marriage to Ronald D. Gilliland at the First Methodist Church in Perry Aug. 30, 1957.

She was the manager at the Stokely Lumber Company, worked part time at Parker’s Flowers and then finally at the Wiese Corporation, retiring in 2003.

Carol was a member of the First United Methodist Church and the Business and Professional Women’s Club in Perry, where she was the first woman to be named the Business Woman of The Year.

After retirement, she volunteered at the Rowley Masonic Community and at the Perry Lutheran Home.

She enjoyed making floral arrangements, which she did for the altar at church. She liked to do quilting, knitting, sewing, and learned to play the guitar later in life.

Carol enjoyed the trip that Ronnie and she took to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, and a motorcycle trip to Rapid City, S.D.

She loved hosting family gatherings on the holidays.

In death she rejoins her husband, Ronnie; and parents, Roy and Mary Jane Gardiner.

Left to cherish Carol’s memory are her children, Leah (Jim) McWilliams of Des Moines, Chuck Gilliland of Perry and Ron “Bud” (Keela) Gilliland Jr. of Glendale, Ariz.; four grandchildren; seven great-grandsons; and two brothers, Dave (Joyce) Gardiner of Johnston and Tom (Nancy) Gardiner of Perry.