June 06, 1953 - March 05, 2023
Carolly “Carol” Janne Struck of Spokane Valley, Washington passed on March 5th, 2023 peacefully at home. She was born at the Ravenswood Hospital in Chicago, Illinois on June 6, 1953, the youngest child of George and Shirley Struck. She attended McHenry Community High School in Illinois in her Freshman and Sophomore years and completed her Junior and Senior years at the International School of Bangkok in Bangkok Thailand living with her mother while her father served as a diplomat in Vietnam. After graduation in 1971 Carol joined the Army. She was stationed at Fort Hamilton, New York from 1971 to 1973 where she served with her long time friend Ernestine Baxter. She was then stationed at Frankfurt Germany from 1973 to 1977 where she was awarded the German Army Marksman Award, Bronze. From 1977 to 1979 Carolly served in Naples, Italy assigned to NATO Command and was recognized for her “faithful and efficient” service as Personnel Sergeant and Reenlistment NCO. During her Enlistment she earned: Army Commendation Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, NCO Professional Development Ribbon. After being honorably discharged she moved to California and was Senior Veterans Customer Advisor Counselor at the College of Alameda for 4 years. She earned her AA degree at the same time. In 1985 she moved back to Illinois and worked as a Personnel Staffing Technician at Fort Sheridan where she met her “sister from another mister” Debbie Herr/Lewis. During which she was awarded US Army Recruiting Command Civilian of the Year (1985). She also worked at this time as an Information Management Technician at Fort Knox, Kentucky. From 1995 till her retirement in 2010 she was the Head Librarian at Naval Hospital Great Lakes, Illinois. During her tenure she was awarded: Junior Civilian of the Quarter, US Naval Hospital Great Lakes (1997), Federal Library Technician of the Year Finalist from the Library of Congress (2000), Federal Employee of the Year Finalist for the Chicago Metropolitan Area (2000), Department of the Navy Meritorious Civilian Service Medal(2002), First Place Winner of the National Medical Library Association Award (2004), Awarded 35 year Civil Service Pin in 2010. She was an active in member of several Library Associations; she served in the Hospital Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects, as well as the Hospital Graduate Medical Education Committee. She was the Leader of the Hospital Beautification Team in 2005. When Carolly retired in 2010 she moved to the Spokane area and began to pursue her hobbies with a great gusto. She was a ghost hunter and she loved doing paranormal research about the locations she personally investigated. She also loved going to famous locations like Pompeii, the Tower of London, Waverly Sanitarium in Kentucky, the Stanley Hotel in Colorado, and Gettysburg National Park in Pennsylvania to name a few. Carolly loved going to Powwows, museums, and libraries. She also was interested in the local legend of Bigfoot and attended many conferences in the area. Every year we made a pilgrimage to McMinnville, Oregon for the UFO Festival that was so much fun. She enjoyed traveling, seeing the sites and meeting people. She loved talking to everyone and made friends that she loved to see again at these events. She was also interested in genealogy and was very proud of her Danish heritage. Her family will always remember her as a vibrant, joyful and caring human being. Carolly is survived by her current life-partner Sue Rector who she lived with from 2002 to 2023. Carolly is predeceased by her previous life-partner, Sandra Olson(1945-2000), they were together five years. She is predeceased by her parents George (1926-1994) and Shirley (1925-1997). She is survived by her older brothers Michael and Kristopher Struck and a younger half brother Randy Struck. Also, she is survived by Michael’s ex-wife Virginia Struck and her children, Zeke Struck and Jacee Nova. A Life Well Lived Service is planned for June 6th. For those who are unable to attend a virtual service will be broadcasted on Facebook Memorial page. If you have a story you would like to share about Carolly it would be wonderful to be part of the service since she loved telling stories. For those who wanted them, Parting Stones will be sent prior to the service. I am asking for those who want them to take extras for those places that Carolly loved. I am placing one at our special place next to the river where she loved to listen to the running water and smell the pines.
