Mable M. Zarecki

Carol, age 86, was born and raised on a farm just north of the small community of Carriere, Mississippi, the second youngest of 10 siblings.  Everyone in her family were hard workers.  As she liked to tell people, “It took a lot of us to help out around the place.”  During WWII, while several of her brothers were serving in the military, Carol and her sisters had to help carry the load on the farm.  It was not unusual for her to be up at the crack of dawn milking the cows or gathering eggs before walking to school.  

After graduating from high school, Carol moved to Biloxi, Mississippi, working a number of jobs, including one as a telephone operator, but the job she most fondly remembered was making ice cream at a small ice cream parlor.  While living on the gulf coast, she met her future husband, Edwin D. Zarecki, who was stationed at nearby Keesler AFB.  Carol and Ed moved around during Ed’s various assignments, including a stint in Albuquerque.  In the early fifties, the two of them moved back to Albuquerque permanently after Ed left the air force.

During the fifties and early sixties Carol worked on and off at Albuquerque National Bank, which later changed its name to Sunwest Bank of Albuquerque.  In the late sixties she stayed home for a few years to spend more time with her two sons.  When the boys were in high school she went back to work at the bank, where she eventually worked her way up to become a vice-president and manager of the bank’s escrow department.

Always active in the community, Carol belonged to the Albuquerque chapter of the National Business Women’s Association and the New Mexico Escrow Association, serving terms as president in both organizations.  After retiring from the bank, she kept herself busy gardening, keeping in touch with friends, and volunteering with various charitable organizations, including ‘Meals on Wheels.’  She was also active at Risen Savior Catholic Church, where she served as a Eucharistic minister.

Carol was preceded in death by husband Ed;  parents Eli F. Carroll and Myrtle James Carroll; brothers Oliver, Harold, Irving, Homer, Emory, and Eskel; sisters Lauriene and Helen.  She is survived by son David Zarecki and his wife Ulla of Albuquerque; son Chris Zarecki of Mesa, AZ; grandson James Zarecki, his wife Nicole and their three children Brooke, Parker and Sierra, of Broomfield, CO; grandson Justin Zarecki, and his wife Page of Niwot, CO; and by many nephews, nieces, great nephews, great nieces, and their children.

Per her wishes, there will be no ‘sad’ funeral service.  Instead, family and friends will be invited to a ‘Celebration of Carol’s Life’ to be held at a future date; time and place yet to be determined.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to St. Martin’s Hospitality Center in Albuquerque.