Carroll Crail Zensius: a friend, daughter, mom, grandmother, great-grandmother

(March 2023)

A few words in Remembrance by Monica Boomgard (April 2023)

In 1984, I found myself in the lobby of the Regent Hotel in Sydney early morning after a 14-hour plane ride waiting for my room key. Myself and about 25 other travel industry invitees were embarking on a weeklong conference familiarization trip that included a train ride from Adelaide to Alice Springs, a tour that included a climb up Ayers Rock (now known as Uluru) and a ferry ride in Sydney Harbour. I think I was standing next to “Z” and asked if she was interested in going for a walk to stretch our legs as we waited for the rooms to be ready. And in that act of saying “yes”, we found ourselves a travel companion, friend, and “pseudo-family member” for four decades.

And as we headed out into the area of downtown Sydney, we started a friendship that lasted about 4 decades. I believe that she was in my life to open up a world of curiosity and joy. We had so much fun and it lead to many life time-changing events. We may have lived in different cities, and experienced life in different ways, but she was someone who I considered to be closer than my own sister. My mother once remarked that “it was probably a good thing we did not live in the same city as we’d get into too much trouble together”. And we did have times of “too much fun”.

The photos that I have put in this document reflect just a small number of shared moments around the world. Carroll was my sister from another mother. We discussed working together at Net Tours at one point in time, I remember spending time in San Francisco at the apartment on Market Street (up by Twin Towers), wandering the streets of the City, her condo in Vallejo and the wonderful house on Heritage Hill and the house in Greenville.

In 1988, she generously invited me on a familiarization tour (when I was working for United -technically a competitor to her tour company) to go to Seoul. We visited Seoul and Cheju Island in February…brrrrr.

Because of our shared love of travel and curiosity, we managed to have many trips together over the years. New Orleans with Don in the 90s, Puerto Vallarta (several times), Greece (2006) , and Africa (2009) to name a few. We met in Reno a couple of times and she came to San Francisco a couple of times after I started attending school at USF (in 2008-2013) to name a few.

She did things that were surprising. I asked her in the apartment in San Francisco about the carousel animals, she told me she had purchased a carousel with her ex-husband, and these were the animals (including several beautifully restored horses were from that purchase. Who does that???? And her depth of knowledge about the history of merry-go-rounds was amazing.

Your mom always threw herself into project Her work ethic was impeccable and I so admired her for her business saavy. Her passion was photography. Her “eye” was amazing. And the proof was in the photos of places and spaces around the world.

I visited her in NorCal and she came down to L.A. over the years.

When she moved to Greenville, we’d enjoy the sights of Reno and the surrounding nature of the Sierra Nevada. Even in the high Sierras, she found connection with community, organizing events, and parades.

We chatted about her love and concerns for you (her daughter), expressed unbridled pride about your achievements (and her grandchildren).

Summing up a 4-decade friendship is impossible. These are just some musings I wanted to share. I had not spoken to Carrol in a long time and yet she will stay in my heart forever. I can only give you my heartfelt sadness about her death. Yet, despite the inevitability that we all will face the reality of no longer being on this earth, each of us have a profound impact on the people that we meet, the people that we love and the people that we have lost. I am honored to have met Z and called her my friend. What more can we want in this world than to touch a life. The ripple effects of those we love do happen! I would not be the person I am today without meeting Carrol.