MARYLIN ODOM KARMEL

1933-2017

Marylin Odom Karmel died peacefully in Houston, Texas, on September 19, 2017 after a valiant battle with ovarian cancer. A celebration of Marylin (Lynn) Karmel’s life will be held in Greensboro, North Carolina, on September 30 and a private burial will be held in Norfolk, Virginia.

Born in Rich Square, North Carolina, on September 9, 1933, to the late Charles Linwood Odom and Mary Bennett Odom, Marylin was the youngest of six siblings. She was a true intellectual, always curious and excited about learning. She was a wonderful mother and grandmother, psychologist and baker extraordinaire. Marylin graduated college from the Art Institute of Chicago and married Louis Joseph Karmel in 1959. In 1961 she earned a masters in counseling psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She graduated from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro with a Ph.D. in Child Development and Family Relations in 1974. Marylin was a professor at High Point University and wrote numerous books with her children’s father, Louis J. Karmel. A lover of music, she also helped to found the Greensboro Opera Company. More recently, Marylin worked as a clinician and crisis counselor.

Marylin was deeply loved by her daughters, grandchildren, nieces, nephews and friends, and will be sorely missed. She is survived by her three daughters, Elizabeth Anne Karmel of Amagansett, NY; Catherine Karmel Tawa (married to Cyril Tawa) of Houston, Texas; Mary Pat Wachter (married to Karl Wachter) of Katonah, NY; and six grandchildren: Nathalie Karmel Tawa, Olivia Karmel Tawa, Luc Karmel Tawa, Louis August Wachter, Charles Alexander Wachter and Maximilian Bennett Wachter.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials be made to Brookwood Community in Houston, Texas. http://www.brookwoodcommunity.org