Carolyn Aileen Thomas Gerald, MD, 76, of Brooklyn, MS, passed away at Forrest General Hospital on Monday, August 31, 2020. Visitation will be Thursday, September 3, 2020, from 5:00-7:00 p.m. at Moore Funeral Home in Hattiesburg. A graveside service will be held the following morning, Friday, September 4, 2020, at 9:00 a.m. at Clear Creek Methodist Protestant Church Cemetery in Brooklyn.
She will be laid to rest next to her husband of 58 years, Paul Gerald, who died only 11 days before, on August 20.
Dr. Gerald grew up in Wiggins, MS, where she and her sister, Sue Ellen, were raised by their mother, Harriet, and grandmother, Allie Bodie. The childhood she often described was one of extreme poverty, but her upbringing inspired her both to strive to excel in life and to work to help others. When she was a teenager, she met Paul, her husband-to-be, working in a tomato shed in Wiggins. After high school she got a job as a waitress, he got a job working for the local A&P grocery store, and they were married in June of 1962.
Her husband encouraged her desire for higher education and supported her through her nursing program and later a master’s degree in biology/pre-med at the University of Southern Mississippi in the mid-1970s. She then attended the University of Mississippi School of Medicine, where she completed her Doctor of Medicine degree in 1980. For the next 40 years, Dr. Gerald worked as a general practitioner in family medicine and also specialized in emergency medicine. During her career she worked for Methodist Hospital of Stone County, Wiggins Clinic, Hattiesburg Clinic, University of Southern Mississippi Student Health Clinic, Ellisville State School, and as an independent contractor in emergency medicine in Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama. Dr. Gerald maintained her Mississippi State Board of Medical Licensure up until the time of her death.
Known for having a huge heart for helping others, Dr. Gerald is remembered and beloved by her many patients and their families. In her private life, she is remembered for following many passions and having multiple projects going, with always more plans on the horizon. She loved spending a luxurious weekend in a high-end hotel as much as fishing on a muddy pond bank or crabbing at one of her favorite spots along the Gulf Coast and its back bays. An adventurous and seasoned traveler, she toured England, Scotland, Italy, and France with her husband and children. On this side of the Atlantic, she cruised the Bahamas, Barbados, Puerto Rico, and visited almost all 50 states, including Hawaii and Alaska. She also loved history and researching her family’s past. She and her husband frequently took road trips to visit libraries where she could conduct genealogical research to learn about their ancestors and reconstruct their family histories.
Throughout her life she never forgot where she came from and was keenly aware of the distance between her impoverished childhood and her life as an MD. She showed her kindness to many people over the years with gifts large and small, and it was important to her to teach her children and grandchildren love, generosity, and good manners. Quoting her grandma Bodie, she often said, “If you’re wearing clean clothes and have good manners, you’d be welcome at the White House.”
She was preceded in death by her husband, Paul Gerald; and her mother and stepfather, Harriet and Carlie Jones.
She is survived by two daughters, Kim Lowry of Brooklyn and Kelly Gerald of Washington, D.C.; two sons, Matt Gerald of Hattiesburg (wife Maureen) and Luke Gerald (wife Amber) of Gulf Shores, AL; sister Sue Ellen Myers of Saucier, MS; half-sister Georgia May Adams and half-brother Robert Thomas of Trion, GA; 8 grandchildren; 3 great-grandchildren; and numerous nieces and nephews.
In lieu of flowers, family and friends are asked to honor her memory with a donation to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital: https://www.stjude.org/give.html
