Obituary of Carolyn Christine Cline Ollom

Carolyn Christine (Chris) Cline Ollom, 86, of Madison, New Jersey , died peacefully on January 06, 2016, at Garden Terrace Nursing Home in Chatham New Jersey. She was the loving wife of John F Ollom (d. 2013). Born in Fairmont, West Virginia on December 25, 1929 to the late Rev. William Preston Cline and Eva Barbara Shirmacher Cline, she spent her early years living in West Virginia, North Carolina, and Seattle Washington. She returned to West Virginia in 1944, where she attended Washington Irving High School in Clarksburg, graduating with highest honors in the spring of 1947. Following high school Carolyn spent two years at Lenoir Rhyne college in Hickor, North Carolina before transferring to West Virginia University, where she received a B.A in Education and an M.S. in Mathematics. While employed as an Math instructor at WVU she met and married her husband of 59 years, John Ollom. Together they moved to Madison NJ in 1956, where they remained for the rest of their lives. Throughout the 1960's and 1970's Carolyn was very active in her community. She taught Sunday School at the Presbyterian Church, was a substitute teacher in the local schools, was a member of many clubs and committees at Drew University, and was a longtime volunteer and troop leader for the Morris Area Girl Scouts. At the age of 46 she returned to college to study computer science at Kean University. This additional education helped her to secure a job as a computer programmer/analyst with AT&T, where she worked and thrived from 1978 to 1996. She was an avid gardener, amateur naturalist , and loving mother and grandmother. She was often seen perusing the flora at Frelinghuysen Arboretum in Morristown NJ or buying one of her many grandchildren an ice cream cone. Following her retirement in 1996, she and John took advantage of their new found freedom and pursued their love of distant lands and culture, traveling to all seven continents. Going to Antartica in 2001 was the fullfillment of a life-long dream.She is survived by her four children: Randolph F (Fritz) Ollom , Barbara Ollom Terrillion , Catherine Ollom Toolan , and William R E (Eric) Ollom ; eleven grandchildren: Kyle Ollom-Tighe, Abigail Tighe, Ryan Terrillion, Mark Toolan, Sam Toolan, Carla Toolan, Stephanie Ollom, Martha Ollom, Jon Ollom, Nicholas Toolan, and Brian Toolan; two great grandchildren: Amalia and Apollo Ollom-Tighe; and many nieces and nephews. She will long be remembered for her unconditional love, her keen interest in education, her beautiful smile , and her warm and forgiving heart. A memorial service will be held in her honor on Saturday February 27, 2016 at 3:00 pm at the Madison Presbyterian Church. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made in her name to: Center for Cognitive Neurology NYU Langone Medical Center. Attn: Lynne Leung 145 East 32nd Street ,Suite 251 New York, N.Y. 10016.