Carol Thursland Radabaugh

Obituary

Carol Thursland Radabaugh passed away at home in Chesapeake, Virginia on February 12, 2021, after a long twelve-year battle with metastatic ocular melanoma.

Carol was born April 29, 1958 in Brooklyn, New York. She grew up in Stamford, Connecticut in a large family with five sisters and one brother. She graduated from Stamford High School in 1976 and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature from Southern Connecticut State University in 1980.

Carol married Mark Radabaugh of Lebanon, Ohio on August 3, 1985. During their 36-year marriage she supported his twenty-year naval career and together they experienced the challenges of the Navy Family while raising their two sons. Carol also built her own career as an office administrator and bookkeeper and was a substitute teacher during their numerous assignments. She was a Cub Scout Den Mother and volunteered with the Great Bridge Band Parents Association and the American Cancer Society Relay for Life. Carol and Mark eventually settled in Chesapeake where they were recently blessed with two granddaughters.

Carol was thoughtful, creative, curious, and kind. She was a devoted friend who could solve problems over a cup of tea and was also known to host great parties. Carol enjoyed reading, writing, cooking, and baking, crafts, art, furniture restoration and home decorating.  She loved to sing, dance, and played the cello.  Her extensive genealogical research of the Thursland and Bird families resulted in unforgettable 2016 reunion with numerous Thursland and Erikson relatives from the United States and Sweden in Nora Mockleby and Torslanda on their ancestral island of Oland.

Carol was predeceased by her father, Arthur Leigh Thursland, in 1998 and her mother, Marguerite Marie Bird Thursland, in 2014.

Carol is survived by her husband Mark L. Radabaugh, Retired U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officer of Chesapeake, VA.  She treasured her son Eric Radabaugh and his wife Leigha of Virginia Beach, VA; and her son Alexander Radabaugh and his wife Ashley of Chantilly, VA.  Two beloved granddaughters, Averie (age 3) and Mayson (8 months), were the light of her life.  Carol’s love for her little ones will live on forever.

Carol is also survived by her siblings: Barbara Glenn and her husband Ross; Patricia Hagerty; Margaret Thursland; Arthur Thursland and his wife Laures; Virginia Newbury and her husband Scott; Christine Winterkorn and her husband Joe; and her brother-in-law Michael Christman and his wife Cyndi. Carol’s family also included twelve well-loved nieces and nephews with growing families as well as the countless cherished friends she made throughout her memorable life.

All who knew her will miss Carol’s infectious laughter, her beautiful smile, her hugs and kisses. We will remember her lifelong devotion to providing comfort, guidance and support to her beloved family and friends and will find solace in the knowledge that Carol’s beautiful spirit will live on in everyone she touched.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the Ocular Melanoma Foundation at www.ocularmelanoma.org.