Carol Elizabeth Tavis

We will be holding a memorial service for Carol at First United Methodist Church Pasadena on Saturday, June 13 at 1:30pm, and we would love to see you there. In the meantime, we encourage you to share your favorite memories of her life here. We ask that instead of sending flowers or gifts that you make a donation to the charity of your choice in her memory. The service will be live-streamed here for those who cannot attend in person. https://youtube.com/live/UvzjXX53OqQ?feature=share

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Carol Elizabeth Tavis

Maiden Name Wilson

Born December 17, 1938

Died April 25, 2026

Survived by her loving husband Fred Gary Tavis, five children, sixteen grandchildren, sixteen great-grandchildren, and two great-great grandchildren waiting to be born.

Carol was born to Walter and Winifred Wilson in Michigan and lived her first ten years on Pottawatmie Street in Tecumseh. She began playing her mother’s beautiful Chickering grand piano at the age of three and proved to be an amazing prodigy by age five. She practiced at least three hours per day during her entire childhood and received a full ride scholarship to USC to major in music. She had the talent to become a world-class performer but decided instead to devote her life to teaching and to raising her five children Peter, Vincent, Susan, Juliet, and Jennifer.

Carol taught music at Stevenson Junior High in Los Angeles, California until 1969 then earned her master’s degree in special education and moved on to teach for 33 years at Frances Blend School for the Blind in Hollywood, California. Her students loved her and some maintained relationships with her for decades. She taught a teenager who could not learn math past a second-grade level to play Beethoven sonatas beautifully. She taught a young boy who was barely able to use either of his hands to play the piano, and it always gave him a huge smile. She had a young student who could pick up any instrument and play it and sang like an angel, so in order to help this prodigy and his family more fully she learned to speak, read, and write Spanish fluently. She taught her students to sing, play instruments, and appreciate music. Her dedication and passion inspired students and colleagues alike. Her fellow teachers said that when Carol arrived at Frances Blend she just lit up the place. She won a Bravo Award and an award from the Hispanic Musicians Association for excellence in teaching music.

Through the course of her life Carol continued to play the piano beautifully, recording all of theBeethoven piano sonatas, as well as many pieces by Mozart. She loved Debussy and Chopin, filling every family gathering with her light and talent. In retirement she continued to perform, volunteering to play at the Covina Library, at the Covina Women’s Club, and for The Guild Opera, Intimate Opera, and the Opera a la Carte. She used her ineffable talent to bring music to her community for the sheer joy of doing so, and that generous spirit infused every performance.

She loved to go camping and led the family on many extended trips in the old VW van. She would gleefully plan every campground stop and landmark visit to expose herself and her family to the wonders of the great outdoors. Her son Peter made a custom kitchen box that sat in the rear compartment of the van, and she loved making meals on the road while singing and practically dancing with happiness. She would rise at dawn, with her children sleeping in the back, and set off for the next destination with energy and gusto. The whole family sang while on the road, often taking parts of popular musicals or operas to sing back and forth to each other.

For her entire adult life, Carol was an active member of the United Methodist Church of Pasadena. She led youth and children’s choirs on Sunday morning, and accompanied the youth choir on Sunday evenings, going on tour with them in the summertime. In her later years, Carol sang with the chancel choir during service. She and her husband Gary played in the orchestra accompanying summer musicals put on by church youth leaders. Her children and grandchildren actively participated in the youth groups and summer musicals, inspired in no small part by Carol’s love of music. 

Carol unflagging positivity and love of music influenced her family, her friends, and her community to be more kind and loving, as she provided the ultimate example of how to live with gratitude and generosity. In every situation she looked for the bright spot and a found a song. She found beauty in ordinary everyday things and held reverence for the glory of the natural world. She will live on in the people whose lives she touched, and in how we live in humble efforts to follow her example as best we can. We will miss her terribly. As she would often say to us, we now say to her, “Mom, we love, love, love you!”