Olga Bates Carroll, 76, Orange

Olga Bates Carroll, 76, of Orange, Texas, passed away on January 27, 2023, at St. Elizabeth Hospital in Beaumont, Texas.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 1:30 p.m., Thursday, February 2, 2023, at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Orange. Officiating will be Father Sinclair Oubre. Entombment will follow at St. Mary Catholic Cemetery in Orange.

Born in Orange, Texas, on February 4, 1946, she was the daughter of Cecil E. Bates and Jeannette (Miller) Bates. Olga graduated from Lutcher Stark High School in 1964 and from Lamar State College in 1969. She was a member of St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church. Olga was a schoolteacher for over 35 years. The majority of those years, she taught second grade at Little Cypress Elementary, where she made lifelong friends, who affectionately became known as the Golden Girls after retirement.

Olga had a heart of gold and loved spending time with her friends and family, especially her granddaughters, Chelsea and Jessica. In her spare time, she loved to bake and sew. She was known for her Italian Cream Cake, and she made beautiful doll clothes for her granddaughters and great nieces. She will be deeply missed by all those that knew and loved her. She is preceded in death by her parents, Cecil and Jeannette Bates; her loving husband of 45 years, Tommy Carroll; and her son-in-law, Chuck McLain.

Those left to cherish her memory are her daughter, Stephanie Carroll McLain of Orange; her granddaughters, Jessica McLain and Chelsea McLain McNamara and husband, Marcus; her sister, Sue Bates and husband, Harry Sharpless; her brother Robbie Bates and wife, Mary; as well as numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins.

Serving as pallbearers will be Brent Bates, Ross Bates, Craig Potter, Scott Potter, Bradley Barnwell, Brett Blackmon, Joe Pace, and Marcus McNamara.