Houston, TX - Carolyn Harris Vestal, 82, of Houston, Texas, died peacefully on August 21, 2025, after being visited by many family and friends during her last week. A devoted wife, mother and grandmother, Carolyn will always be remembered for her intelligence, teacher's heart, wicked humor, passion for serving others and love for her family.

Born on January 29, 1943, in Dallas Texas, Carolyn grew up as the only child of Julian and Ethel Harris. After her father returned from WW2 in 1945, she grew very close to her father, and they created a strong relationship of teasing and joking that carried on with her own family and students. She joined her local Girl Scout Troop and with her mother, they traveled all over the US and Mexico. This group of women became her lifelong friends who have supported each other and stayed connected through dozens of reunions over the years.

Carolyn went to Highland Park High School and upon graduation went up the road to Austin College in Sherman, TX. She met her future husband Bedford Vestal at college in the anatomy lab where they both majored in Biology graduating in 1965. They were very happily married for 50 years and produced 3 children and 5 grandchildren.

Carolyn was a teacher at heart. Starting out teaching Chemistry and Biology to high school students in the 1960s in East Lansing, Michigan as a 22-year-old to becoming the lead expert on teaching visually impaired students of all ages in Norman, Oklahoma, Carolyn changed countless lives. She would get a lot of double takes driving around town with a bumper sticker on her car stating: "Driver Reads Braille".

During her retirement, her passions were sewing, fabric art, card making, creating the best chocolate pudding, teasing everyone, drinking Coca Cola, reading, traveling, and taking care of all 5 grandkids each summer for a very memorable time at their annual Grandkids Camp.

Carolyn is preceded in death by her husband Bedford and daughter Sarah. She is survived by her son Warden Vestal, daughter-in-law Leslie and two grandchildren Cassie and Alex, and son Wesley Vestal, daughter-in-law Jenny and granddaughters Molly, Lucy and Caroline.

A service to celebrate Carolyn's life will be scheduled for later this year. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Saint Philip Presbyterian Church Day School in Houston, TX or Lighthouse for the Blind in Houston, TX.