Carol Marie (Zeits) Cummings was born on June 3, 1955 in Port Townsend, Washington to Duane and Martha Zeits. On Dec. 4, 2020, Carol was called home by our Lord and Savior to take her place amongst the angels and rejoin her parents, grandparents and sister Connie.
Growing up in Port Townsend, Carol developed her love for God’s splendor in the beautiful Pacific Northwest. She would recall with bright eyes and exciting details of the family outings with her mom and dad and sisters Claudia and Connie on the beach at Fort Worden, Beckett Point and numerous other locations; her fishing trips with her dad and her mom cooking the catch of the day. She also developed a strong love of the living nature surrounding her, from seeing the whales in the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Puget Sound to adopting wolves at Wolf Haven. Carol also was a music lover and her love ranged from Janis, the Doors, Pink Floyd, Elton John and most of all, playing her cello.
Carol graduated from Port Townsend High, Class of 1973, and Olympic College in 1976 with a degree in criminal justice and the high score on the pistol range.
While attending Olympic College she met her future husband John, while he was stationed at the Marine barracks in Bremerton. It was then, in 1975, that their journey began with their first cruise, a 6-hour float around the Puget Sound, aboard a state ferry as they celebrated the 200th Marine Corps Birthday Ball.
Carol and John were married in Port Townsend in April of 1976 and moved to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Upon leaving the Marines, Carol and John moved to Peru, Illinois and then Oglesby, Ill.
In December of 1985 Carol’s daughter Rhiannon was born, and became Carol’s brightest light.
In 1989, Carol and family returned to her Pacific Northwest, settling in Sultan, Washington. She worked in the library and taught preschool and kindergarten at Immaculate Conception and Our Lady of Perpetual Help School in Everett until 2012 when she became a full-time grandmother to Rhiannon’s children, Layla and Landon. They were always first and welcome for sleepovers, baking and cooking, trips to the fairs and shows. Summers were spent at Grandma Carol’s swimming parties in the back yard with fresh blueberries, cherries and late summer kiwis to pick and eat.
Carol died while battling diabetes and related illnesses that she had fought since the late 1980s. But she left us with the greatest and warmest smile, a heart that could never do enough for others and an unbreakable spirit that things will get better.
Carol leaves behind her husband of 44 years John Cummings; daughter and son-in-law Rhiannon (Garrick) Doyal; grandchildren Layla and Landon of Lake Stevens, Washington; sister Claudia (Howard) Carr of Edmonds,Washington; brother-in-law Kent Stanley of Snohomish, Washington; and many family members, nieces and nephews and great friends she met along her journey.
She was proceeded in death by her parents Duane and Martha, sister Connie, and her paternal and maternal grandparents.
Cremations rites have been afforded and a Mass of Christian Burial and Internment will be at a later date. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Carol’s name to Wolf Haven International, 3111 Offut Lake Road SE, Tenino, WA 98589.
