Funeral Services will be held at 1:00pm on Wednesday, February 2, 2022, in the Wade Funeral Home Chapel for Ms. Carolyn Ann Runyan, age 86, of Brandon. Ms. Runyan passed away from this life on Saturday, January 22, 2022, at River Oaks Hospital in Flowood. The Reverend Timothy Beard will officiate and internment will be in the Collins City Cemetery.

Wade Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

Carolyn Ann Runyan was born in Hattiesburg on January 25, 1935, to Charles Curtis Runyan and Myrtle Williamson Runyan. Carolyn was raised in Collins. She obtained her bachelor's degree from the University of Southern Mississippi and her master's in social work from Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana. Upon graduation, Carolyn taught eighth grade general science and sponsored the BETA Club in Gulfport, but she had always wanted to travel and so she pursued career opportunities that took her to remote parts of the world.

Joining the Red Cross in 1957, Carolyn was interviewed in Atlanta, trained in Washington D.C., and flown to Tokyo from San Francisco. During a year in Korea as a Junior Red Cross worker with the Clubmobile Unit, Carolyn remembered only running in to trouble with translation once. "The first time I asked a Boston born girl for a glass of water with my southern accent, she had to find somebody to translate my request", Carolyn laughed. Back in the states by 1960, Carolyn had been promoted to Director of the Junior Red Cross for eighty schools in three central Mississippi counties.

Advocating for children was a core value in Carolyn's career. From 1961-1972, she served as a supervisor/ child welfare worker/ consultant in Jackson, MS. She accepted a position with the University of Arkansas Medical Center as an Assistant Clinical Professor of Social Work and pursued research on the effectiveness of foster care placement for psychiatric patients with the Veterans Administration. She then returned to Jackson in 1972 to develop the social work program for pediatric oncology patients with the University of Mississippi Medical Center and supervised the social work program for the division of Family Health Services for the Mississippi State Board of Health.

By 1985, Carolyn was ready to travel again and accepted a five-year tour of civil service duty as a Family Advocacy Program Manager in Giessen, Germany, the Netherlands, and finally the Headquarters for the VII Army Corps, United States Army Europe. Returning stateside in 1990, she rounded out her travels with opportunities in Colorado and Virginia.

When Carolyn decided to retire, she bought a home in Brandon, MS, close to both her brother and sister. She and her beloved, four-legged child Bruiser continued making regular trips to catch up with family and friends. Carolyn remarked over Christmas this year, that in all her travels, and with all the wonderful friends she made around the world, there was never a place that felt as charming, as genteel - as southern - as home.

Ms. Runyan was preceded in death by her mother and father; 1 brother, Major Charles Curtis Runyan, Jr.; and 1 sister, Mary Nell Runyan Wallace.

Survivors include 4 nieces, Becky Yarbrough (George) of Dallas, TX, Debby McCafferty (Ron) of Tupelo, Amy Shelton (Bob) of Ooltewah, TN, and Patti Runyan of Nashville, TN; 2 great-nephews, Drew Lamb (Ashley) of Ooltewah, TN, and Bear Griffith of Austin, TX; 1 great-great nephew, Hayden Lamb of Ooltewah, TN; and 3 cousins, Billy Williamson of Vicksburg, Mary Ann Hammett of New Orleans, LA, and Paul Williamson of Kosciusko; as well as a host of other relatives and friends.