Carol Jean Larson Lunger

Carol Jean Larson Lunger, 79, of Austintown, Ohio passed away peacefully at home surrounded by her family, with a bouquet of Star Magnolia blossoms on her chest, on March 30, 2021. Born July 17, 1941, to the late Joel Carl Larson and Christina Fawn Collins Larson, in Mahaffey, PA, she was the 11th of 12 children.
Married in Punxsutawney, PA, she and Norris “Gene” Lunger, shared 61 years together, until her passing.
Carol retired from Mill Creek MetroParks after 20 years as Landscape Supervisor. She received a commendation for helping to save the life of a young woman in distress. Her love and self-taught skill as a gardener brought her to the MetroParks as a regular volunteer for over 40 years, helping to set up the first Master Gardener Program, design and decorating for many events including Christmas in the Gardens, Friends of Fellows Riverside Gardens summer garden party, plant sales, and helped establish the Children’s Garden. She believed in keeping the mind and hands busy, and was very artistic and creative, excelling in knitting, tatting, quilting, painting, sewing, a litany of other arts & crafts, and crochet, winning a blue ribbon at the Canfield Fair for her broomstick lace bedspread; there was nothing she wouldn’t try to create. Believing that her God-given talents should not be sold, she gifted many of her handmade items to family, friends, nursing homes, and domestic violence shelter.
Besides her husband, she is survived by her daughters Mandy (Bob) Walker, Penny Lunger, grandchildren Ryan Walker and Sarah Walker, sister Catherine Nagel (Jim) of Pittsburgh, and many nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents, and all other brothers and sisters.
In lieu of flowers, material contributions can be made to Mill Creek MetroParks Foundation, Garden Education, PO Box 596, Canfield, OH 44406, or your local American Lung Association.
Per her request, there will be no public services; a private viewing has been held for her immediate family, and burial will be at Green Haven Memorial Gardens in Canfield, OH at a later date.