Carol Wick

Carol Wick, age 89 of Eau Claire, passed away peacefully on December 22.

Carol was born February 29, 1932, in Cambridge, Ohio, the daughter of Walter P. Marion and Elsie A. Stokely Marion. She graduated from St. Benedict's High School in 1950 and from St. Mary's College, Notre Dame, Indiana, in 1955. At St. Mary's, Carol worked in the kitchen and dining room thirty-five hours a week and during three summers, earning her full tuition, room and board. She was president of the Staff Students for 2 years and their representative on the Student Council one year. After teaching history and social studies for eight years at Central Junior High and at St. Mary's Academy, both in South Bend, Indiana, Carol received a Lilly Fellowship which allowed her to earn a Master's degree in American History from Indiana University in 1963 and later, with a Teaching Assistantship and a Graduate Scholarship, she earned a Doctor of Philosophy in American History in 1970, also from Indiana University.

In 1965, Carol accepted an appointment as Assistant Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point. She earned promotion to Full Professor in 1976 and served as Assistant to the Vice-Chancellor for Academic Affairs from 1976 to 1980. She served as Chair of the Faculty and on a wide variety of History Department and University committees. Carol was also State Secretary of The Association of University of Wisconsin Faculty from 1972 to 1976 and Chair of its Education Committee. In that capacity she worked with faculty leaders from throughout the UW System to develop Administrative Code Faculty Personnel Rules required by the 1972 merger of the University of Wisconsin and the Wisconsin State University System, and gave workshops on those rules at several UW System institutions. Carol married Marshall E. Wick in 1976 and immediately became a loving mother to his three sons. As the matriarch of the family, she learned to fish, play golf, bowl, pour concrete, lay carpet, hang wallpaper, cook for fifteen or more people, act as carpenter's assistant, use a computer, paint walls and operate a boat. She also continued to teach at UW- Stevens Point for fifteen years, retiring in 1991. Left to her own devices she loved to read - fiction, history, politics, travel, magazines, and newspapers. Carol and Marshall also liked to travel to many countries, including China, Russia, Mexico, India, Australia, New Zealand, St. Maarten, and to all fifty states.

After retirement, Carol enjoyed volunteering at the Chippewa Valley Museum as a school tour docent, at the front desk, researching odd bits of history, helping to mount new exhibits, and in a variety of other ways. More than anything she enjoyed family gatherings, grandchildren, and days at the family's Red Cedar Lake cottage,

She is survived by her husband Marshall, 2 sons, Jeffrey (Cheryl), and Michael (Jackie), daughter-in-law Karen (Steven), and by 12 grandchildren: Matthew, Jennifer, Julie , Bryan, Alex, Caitlin, Stephanie, Nathan, Spencer, Brandon, Marcus, and Cameron, and by 11 great-grandchildren. She is also survived by her sister Shirley Atkinson, several nieces and nephews, and many friends and former students.

Carol was preceded in death by her parents, by her son Steven, her brother John, her sister-in-law Josephine, and her brother-in-law Robert Atkinson.

Funeral Mass will be held in Eau Claire at 11:00 am on Thursday, December 30th at Immaculate Conception Church (1712 Highland Avenue) with visitation one hour prior to the service.

The family extends its appreciation to the staff at Oakwood Health Services in Altoona for their compassionate care over the past several months. Memorials in Carol's honor may be given to the Chippewa Valley Museum in Eau Claire.

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