Obituary: Velaine Vanier Carnall

The following obituary was submitted to Patch:

Garden Lover, Volunteer Extraordinaire, Activist and Butterfly Lover

Born: January 12, 1928 in Hallam Nebraska

Died: March 20, 2019 in LaGrange, IL

Born January 12, 1928 she was the daughter of Forrest O. and Rosabelle ( Fairchild) Vanier.
Velaine’s family moved early on from Hallam, NE to Arizona due to her father’s health
issues. She always remembered the homestead there and the Pacing Nelly horse that was
hers at 3 years of age. Upon her father’s death in 1931 she and her mother returned to
Lincoln, Nebraska where she lived until 8 years of age. At that point the family moved to
Denver, Colorado where she attended school through High School. She married Bill Carnall
after meeting in Fort Collins, CO at Colorado & M. Velaine earned her BS in Sociology at
A& M in 1949 and in 1974 completed her MA in Public Administration at Roosevelt
University in Chicago. She worked for the federal government thereafter evaluating Federal
Health and Human Services Programs. She retired in 1982 to work on projects closer to
home. During her lifetime Velaine was a dedicated activist who worked with many
organizations to assure Fair Housing; Civil Rights; Access to Mental Health Services;
Reproductive Freedom; Women’s Rights; and Senior Supports.

Surviving are three children Richard Carnall (Rebecca) of LaGrange, Alisa Carnall York (Kevin) of Geneva,IL and Bruce Carnall of Santa Clarita, CA; five grandchildren, Cathy Martin(
Jonathan), Victoria Carnall-Hawkins(Jim), Christopher York (Latoya), Marissa Orellana (Jose) and Elisabeth York, ; and three great grandchildren Emmerson and Jonah York and
Brayden Orellana.

She will be dearly missed.

A Celebration of Life will be held on May 5, 2019 at the Hinsdale Unitarian Church, 17 W
Maple, Hinsdale, IL . In lieu of flowers donations can be made to Planned Parenthood, the
ACLU or the Community Diversity Group of LaGrange https://www.communitydiversity..