Obituary of Carolyn S. (Smith) Tiihonen

Carolyn S. (Smith) Tiihonen PEABODY—Carolyn S. (Smith) Tiihonen, 77, beloved wife of Desmond Tiihonen, died peacefully at her home on Sunday April 13, 2014 while in the comforting presence of her family. Born in Sumter, SC, she was the daughter of the late Joseph and Evelyn (Boykin) Smith. She grew up and attended schools there, and met her husband while working as a civilian at Shaw Air Force Base. Mrs. Tiihonen moved north to the Boston area, settling in Peabody where she lived for the last 50 years. She graduated from North Shore Community College. She loved her profession as a Nurse with the Outpatient Surgi-Center of Salem Hospital. Carolyn enjoyed dance, and many fond memories with her husband square dancing with the Lancers Square Dance Club. She loved being outdoors, and tending as a gardener growing Roses. She was a wonderful wife, mother, daughter, sister and friend, and she will be dearly missed by those who knew her. She is survived by her husband Desmond Tiihonen of Peabody, with whom she shared 57 years of marriage; three daughters, Susan Jacobson of Litchfield, NH, Cynthia “Cindy” Vondenhuevel & her husband John of Titusville, FL, and Pamela Silva & her husband John of Beverly; 11 grandchildren, Brian, Nicholas, and Allison Silva, Sarah, Kimberly, Laura and Daniel Jacobson, and Emily, Ryan, Rachael and Kyle Vondenhuevel; one great-granddaughter Addison Pittman; two sisters Betty Jo Macdonald & her husband Donald of Melbourne, FL and Evelyn Garrison & her husband Lawrence of San Antonio, TX; a sister-in-law Patricia Smith of Lexington, SC, and many nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death, besides her parents, by a brother Benjamin Smith. Relatives and friends are kindly invited to gather on Wednesday at 12:30 PM from the Conway, Cahill-Brodeur Funeral Home, 82 Lynn St., Peabody, followed by a Funeral Mass at 1:30 P.M. in Our Lady of the Assumption Church, Lynnfield. A visitation will be held on Tuesday from 4 – 8 P.M. in the funeral home. Burial in Puritan Lawn Memorial Park, Peabody. Memorial donations may be made to the Michael J. Fox Parkinsons Foundation, Grand Central Station, P.O. Box 4777, New York, NY 10163-4777 or to the Sjögren's Syndrome Foundation, 6707 Democracy Boulevard, Suite 325 Bethesda, MD 20817.