Carol Yvonne (Parker) Daniels

Carol Yvonne (Parker) Daniels (90) passed away peacefully on June 8, 2026. She was born on Friday, the 13th, of September, 1935, in Flint, MI, the daughter of Ward Severn Parker and Ethel Mae (Kleinhans) Parker.

She grew up in Flint where her father owned Ward Parker’s Garage an auto repair business on the Flint River. She attended public schools (Flint Northern HS) and also graduated from Flint Community College before earning a BS in Education from Eastern Michigan University. She later earned an MS in Science Education at The University of Michigan. She taught chemistry, physics, and environmental sciences at high schools in Belleville and South Lyon, and later in Meridian and Bullock Creek. She was one of the first teachers at H.H. Dow High School.

She met her future husband, Dr. Stacy Leroy Daniels, while both were attending the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where they were married on July 18, 1964. Upon completion of their degrees, they moved to Midland in 1966. Carol was very active in local affairs including: chairing used book sales for the American Association of University Women and chairing the Midland Parent Teachers Organization, as well as the Midland Garden Club. She and Stacy were members of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Midland, MI, and St. Philip’s Episcopal Church in Beulah, MI.

Carol and Stacy lived together in Midland for the past fifty-seven years in the same house they designed and built themselves in 1969. They became eyewitnesses to the Tittabawassee River (Four Lakes) “disaster” (ne’ flood) which unfolded (19 May 2020) near their own back yard ~1,000 ft from, but 21 ft “higher and dryer”, than the floodplain of Sturgeon Creek, a major tributary! This event surpassed the prior record “inundation” at Crystal Lake (23 Aug 1873) to become “the largest inundation from an inland lake system due to dam breaching in U.S history”! They also recovered from the aftermath of a severe lightning strike on their house (12 Sep 2021).

They celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary (18 Jul 2024), and continued to look forward to future adventures living in their house, “by the side of the road”, near a river, with “smiles and tears, as friends to man!” (Including dear friends, neighbors, and acquaintances!) When asked about the secret to their long marriage, the couple said, "Having mutual respect for each other's views, whilst being 'inundated' by a shared appreciation of the Crystal Lake Watershed”!

They greatly enjoyed and appreciated their times at their fifth-generation cottages on Crystal Lake in Benzie Co. On June 6, 2026, they were both honored at the recent Dedication ceremony for their donation to make the Archibald Jones Historical Research Center a reality for the Benzie Area Historical Society!

Carol was predeceased by her parents, and brother, Clare Ward Parker. She is survived by her husband, Dr. Stacy Leroy Daniels, of Midland; her daughter, Julie Lyntha Cavanaugh; son-in-law, Thomas Paul Cavanaugh; and three grandsons, Tommy, Drew, and Brock Cavanaugh, of Rochester Hills, MI, and by numerous nieces and nephews of the Daniels, Kleinhans, and Parker families. The family extends its appreciation to her excellent home health care providers: Rachael Williamson. Candi Hyer, Katlynn Toner, and Renea Ortiz, who extended her long productive life.

A private service is under consideration for late summer/early fall of 2026.

Donations in Carol’s memory can be made to the Benzie Area Historical Society, Beulah, MI.