Caroline Clark Trask August 15, 1939 - May 23, 2024
St. Helena Island, South Carolina - Caroline Clark Trask, a beloved wife, mother, grandmother, and friend to many, died peacefully on May 23, 2024. She passed at her home on St. Helena Island surrounded by her four children and a brood of grandchildren. Her example unto the end was one of showering love, and while she lived a blessed life, the last few years left her unable to walk due to a Parkinsonian disease. Even in that decline, her will to push on shined as a powerful example.
She leaves behind a family in grief at her passing but happy that she is at peace with the Lord and that she can once again be with her husband of 61 years who predeceased her, John M. Trask, Jr, as well as her son in law, Gordon W. Wallace, Jr. Left to honor her are her children and grandchildren: John M. Trask III and Isabelle Trask Toedtman (Zach Toedtman), Peter Trask, and Josephine Trask; Caroline Trask Wallace (Gordon Wallace/deceased) and Lizzie Wallace and Anna Wallace; S. Clark Trask ( Evy Nabers Trask) and Grace Trask and Sam Trask; and Patrick G. Trask (Cathleen Quinn Trask) and Patrick Trask Jr., Lillian Trask, and William Trask. In addition to John and Gordon, she was preceded in death by a sister, Rena Clark Harris, and her parents, Sam and Carolyn Clark of Tarboro, NC. Survivors also include her sister Eleanor Clark Larsen (Chris Larson) and Louise Clark Ravenel ( Dan Ravenel), both with whom she was very close, and numerous dear cousins.
Born August 15, 1939 in eastern North Carolina, she was raised in Tarboro, where the love of many aunts and uncles, grandparents and great-grands, and troops of cousins imprinted on her a lasting trait— the love of family. Due to nephritis, she was bedridden for nearly a year in first grade, perhaps then learning the value of an afternoon nap which she enjoyed throughout her life. Her younger sister notes that in 1956 she entered St. Mary’s High School in 11th grade as a “homely little girl with thick glasses and dangling curls” and graduated four years later from St, Mary’s Junior College as the May Queen with a pack of lifelong friends. Amongst her talents in school, sadly never witnessed by her kids, was participation on the synchronized swim team.
She found the love of her life, John, on a blind date and married into another large family and moved to Beaufort, SC in 1961. Eager to be the good wife, she recounted turning on the kitchen light early in her marriage and seeing a dozen cockroaches. She called her mother crying because in eastern North Carolina that meant an unkempt house, though she would learn in the Lowcountry, particularly in 1961, “palmetto bugs” were just par for the course.
Embracing the role of traditional housewife, she nevertheless expanded upon it as serious business. To be certain, wherever her efforts turned, the endeavor was sure to succeed. She was a tireless volunteer, serving many years on the Board of Directors of the Beaufort County Open Land Trust, including as a past president. With Nancy Pearson, she co-authored Sea Island Seasons in 1980, an iconic cookbook that raised tens of thousands of dollars for the Open Land Trust and sells to this day in local bookstores. She was a member of the Beaufort Female Benevolent Society as well as St. Helena’s Episcopal Church, where she helped with countless church bazaars. In 1986, she and John hosted an event for the National Governors Association at Orange Grove. Throughout her married life, she worked dutifully and meticulously as bookkeeper for several family businesses and for years co-owned a business (La Residence) selling fine linens.
For her, tradition was passed down by both a sense of place and a sense of taste. For the former, it was imbued in her by spending at least part of every summer of her life on the Outer Banks, at milepost 13 in Nags Head, in a cedar shake covered beach cottage built by her grandfather. This tradition passed to her children and her grandchildren, all of whom were once small enough to bathe in the washroom sinks which Grandmamma/ Gammy/ Ma/ Gramsicle would fill to the brim with bubbles and warm water. At Orange Grove, her home of over sixty years, she and John created a magical place for their children and grandchildren and any who visited. In 1977, reluctantly uprooting the family to live in Washington DC for a year, she formed lasting bonds with city life and new friends, returning for decades to an apartment she and John maintained.
As to the latter, a sense of taste, she honed her talents and suffused her love one ingredient at a time. She was an epicure and gastronome, selftaught as well as a graduate from courses at LaVarrene in Paris. Long before any of her kids had ever boarded an airplane, she had spoiled them with gourmet meals from Italy, France, Siam or the Sichuan Province. Her cookbooks were all filled with check marks or notations, and she treated “meal planning” as an accomplished art. Attestation has been noted in guest books at Nags Head or Orange Grove, and those who knew her best will no doubt associate a delicious meal, dish or recipe. To her grandchildren, nothing was more special than making an orange aide with
Gramsicle, for in addition to the crushed ice she loaded it with refined white sugar and fresh squeezed OJ, interjecting “I love you” in both deed and word.
That love was shared with anyone who came into her orbit. It was not just nephews and nieces but second or third cousins who would call her “Aunt Caroline,” a verbal embrace fitting her affection. She shared this love the world over, and with John they traveled on numerous overseas ventures and developed lasting friendships in England, France, Holland, Germany, Hungary, India and Australia. Amusingly, when a mutual friend visited a small village in Kenya, a small boy came up to them and, upon learning they were from America, he said, “I know somebody from America. Caroline Trask.” She had met him a year prior and had sent him a care package of school supplies!
Simply put, she was the glue that held the family together and a vessel of unbounded love. She will of course be missed but also revered for a life well-lived and full of blessings. To her family, her memory will always be a benediction.
The family would like to give particular mention to Marci and those who cared for her so well the past four years, including Annie S., Annie J., Carlisha, Brittney, Desiree, Florence, Georgeanne, Latoya, Laura, Mike, Romeater, Maria, and Susan; to Crescent Hospice and her nurse Mallory and Chaplain Larry; and to her devoted friends who never stopped visiting, calling, writing, and keeping her in their prayers.
The family welcomes friends and family to a service and reception Tuesday, May 28th at 11 am at Orange Grove. In lieu of flowers, they would request donations be made in her name to Open Land Trust (openlandtrust. org).
Anderson Funeral Home and Crematory is serving the family.