Carol Angenette Carper, born in 1940 in Oswego County, New York, passed away peacefully on November 26, 2025, with her children and husband at her side. A devoted wife, mother, grandmother, and faithful servant of Christ, Carol's life was marked by resilience, family dedication, and an unwavering commitment to ministering to people forgotten or ignored by most of society. She was predeceased by her parents Harold and Helen Hudson, sister Arlene, and son James "Jamie" Carper, Jr. (2018).

Growing up in central and southern New York, Carol experienced wartime hardships, including her father's service as a tank driver in Europe. After a challenging high school period marked by family tensions, she enlisted in the U.S. Air Force on a whim in the late 1950s, serving as an administrative secretary at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas. It was there she met her future husband through mutual friends, beginning a lifelong partnership in service, family, and ministry.

Carol and James have six children: Jamie Carper (Delia Lugo), Michele Carper-Ruby (Mark), Regina McCollam (Dan), Cathy McLaurin (Ron), Sean Carper (Jayna Landrum), and Jay Carper (Paula Theriot). They raised their children primarily in the Quad Cities area of Illinois after James's Air Force discharge, where Carol balanced full-time work, homemaking, and active church involvement, including bus and children's ministry reaching children from disadvantaged backgrounds. With 14 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren, Carol often reflected with joy on her expansive family--both natural and spiritual--crediting God's grace for a rich and fulfilling life. She is survived by her husband of 66 years, James Carper, Sr., whom she married in May 1959, five of her children, sister Linda Cowan (Dale), and brothers John Hudson and Steven Hudson (Melinda Howe).

In the 1990s, after relocating to Phoenix, Arizona, Carol and James co-founded Prisoners of Hope Ministries, offering counseling, religious services, discipleship, and education (through Global University and the Assemblies of God) to thousands of jail and prison inmates across Arizona, New Mexico, and Nevada, growing the program to serve hundreds of students through word-of-mouth referrals. Carol managed operations and correspondence from home, offering personal encouragement and support, while James led jail services. The ministry continues to operate with the help of volunteers under James's direction.

Her profound faith, deepened by a transformative vision of Christ's forgiveness, sustained Carol through her final illness with joy and peace. She viewed suffering as training in empathy and trusted fully in her Creator. Carol's legacy of obedience, compassion, and redemption continues to inspire countless lives touched by her ministry. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you send donations to Prisoners of Hope Ministries, PO Box 428, Youngtown, AZ 85363.

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