Tragically, Carrie was hit and killed while jogging on Oro-Chico Hwy on July 22, 2010 by a driver who was under the influence of drugs. Carrie was a remarkable woman that is missed deeply by her community, her students at Olive View Elementary where she taught 5th grade for 29 years, and most of all her family and friends. Carrie Jean (Micheaels) Holiman was born in December of 1953 to Gregory John and Jean Marie Micheaels in San Rafael, California. Carrie inherited her beautiful dark eyes and hair from her Armenian father and her kind and loving nature from her mother. The eldest girl of five children, Carrie grew up in Northern California, first in the North Bay communities of San Anselmo and Berkeley and then moving to the small farming community of Watsonville - a part of Carrie's childhood that she always remembered as the happiest. The family eventually moved back to the Bay Area community of Hayward where Carrie graduated from high school in 1972. After a year of college at the University of California, Santa Barbara, Carrie moved north to attend school in Chico, the community which she has loved and called home since. Carrie graduated in 1977 with a B.A. in Sociology and Spanish from California State University, Chico where she returned to also earn her Multiple Subject Credential. Fluent in Spanish, Carrie spent a year in between living and traveling in Mexico and Guatemala - an experience that inspired in her a love of the cultures and people there and which shaped her long career as a teacher. Without a doubt the greatest joy and pride in Carrie's life was her daughter, Sequoia Rita (Holiman) Stephens who was born in 1978 and who Carrie raised as a single working mom during the early years when she first started her teaching career at Olive View Elementary School in Corning. Carrie was unquestionably a remarkable mother in all ways, but most so in her deep and unwavering love. She brought this same care to the many students she taught during her 30 years as a classroom teacher. Carrie is remembered by her colleagues for her desire to want the best for each student and also for her grounding sense of humor and her strong ability to advocate for what was right for students and families. Carrie's life was so deeply part of the Chico community, where she developed lasting and close friendships, and where her irreplaceable presence will be deeply missed. Her family and close friends knew her as someone who was always there when they needed support and love, who loved to welcome people into her life and home, who cultivated joy and laughter with her friends. Carrie's greatest happiness was the time she spent with her closest family - her partner of 23 years, Dave Duke Warren; her daughter, Sequoia and husband, Brad and most significantly, her four beautiful grandchildren, Cal, Quincy, Corrina and Sam. In addition to her exceptional career as a classroom teacher, Carrie was an early and avid lover of sports, including tennis and running, two physical activities that she made a part of her daily routine throughout her adult life. Carrie was also an accomplished seamstress - making many of Sequoia's baby clothes, quilts and before that, dresses for her mother and sisters and dashikis for her father. Carrie, like her mother Jean, loved flowers, whether grown in the beautiful yard of the home where she and Duke lived or delivered by the florist on special occasions. Carrie, or G.C. as her grandchildren affectionately call her, is remembered and cherished with tender love by her family and friends: by her partner, Dave Duke Warren; by her daughter, Sequoia and husband Brad Stephens and their children, Callan West, Quincy Lynn, Corrina Marie and her newest grandbaby, Samuel Duke; by her brothers and sisters and their families: John, Mary Lou, Jeff, Carrie and Greg Micheaels; Jim Micheaels and Heidi Painter; Cathleen Micheaels and Kevin Joe; Coleen, Jerry, Isaiah and Jacob Hawthorne; by the extended Warren and Stephens families and by her dearest friend, Virginia Bacigalupi and many, many others. She is preceded in death by her father and mother, Gregory and Jean Micheaels, who loved and admired Carrie for all her accomplishments. We love you GC!
