Carolann GRACE Fowler

On January 7, 2020 a loving, caring and nurturing mother, grandmother, great grandmother, sister, aunt, cousin and friend left this earthly life to go on to her everlasting resting place. God blesses her and welcomes her home in eternal peace and beauty.

Carolann Grace was born February 14, 1941 in San Diego, CA. She was the second of three children born to the union of Gilbert Clarence Groff and Naomi Agusta Welch Groff.

As a debutante, as well as the daughter of a Mason and an Eastern Star, Grace enjoyed participating in society functions after her debut in her teens. She treasured the time spent working for her father in his real estate office. Hard working and sharp, she made extra money as a clerk for Ratner Clothing. Grace loved sharing time with her mother; sewing and cooking at home. Her siblings and their families meant the world to her.

After graduating from San Diego High School in 1958, Grace married her high school sweetheart in 1960, Robert Louis Fowler. Their first child, Claudia Grace, was born prematurely and passed away two days after her birth. They were later blessed with four more children, Rodney Lauren, Mark Scott, Charlyn Grace and Robin Lisa.

Grace retired from the Internal Revenue Service in 1996, after an exemplary 35+ year career working for the federal government. She got her start at the Department of the Navy before joining the IRS in 1973 as a GS-3 Clerk/Typist. Grace rose through the ranks and retired as a GS-12 Journeyman Revenue Officer (investigator/tax collector). She was an active member of the National Treasury Employees Union – Chapter 92 San Diego Office, eventually serving as Vice President for multiple terms.

Grace, who was centered in Christ, was baptized at Bethel A.M.E. Church in San Diego, CA. In her adult years Grace was active and involved in several church activities and shared responsibilities and leadership functions.

For decades, Grace’s home was the gathering place for family and friends on occasions big and small. It brought great joy to her heart to cook for her family and entertain her friends. Her capacity to care for others and her empathy made her a trusted adviser and confidant. Grace was elegant, welcoming, optimistic, encouraging and always smiling. She had a way of giving constructive feedback to people that was analogous to an Angel delivering a TKO. She was supportive, intelligent, humorous, tolerant and beautiful – both inside and out. She will be dearly missed by all who knew and loved her.

She was preceded in death by one daughter, Claudia Grace; both of her parents and both of her siblings, sister, Patricia Louise Groff Grundy and brother, Ralph Carter Groff.

She leaves to cherish her memory her four loving and devoted children: Rodney (wife, Tyler), Mark (wife, Barbara), Charlyn (husband, Jim) and Robin (husband, Mark); ten grandchildren, Michael (wife, Adriane), Deva, Rodney Jr., Austin (wife, Vannessa), Nadia, Marco, Giulia, Vito, Isabella, and Mia; eight great-grandchildren, Rodney III, Demi, Ferah, Kobe, Marlo, Ashton, Maxwell and Nova and a host cousins, other relatives and many friends who will mourn her passing, yet celebrate her life.

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