Retired Army Lt. Col. Carroll Mitchell, 90, a longtime Baker City resident and accountant, died Jan. 17, 2004, at Ashley Manor Care Center.
The memorial service for Carroll, which will be a celebration of his life, will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at Coles Funeral Home, 1950 Place St. Pastors Aaron Oglesbee and Joe Bush will officiate. Internment will follow sometime in the coming months at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., where Carroll’s father, Lt. Col. Manton Mitchell, and his mother, Kathleen Carroll Mitchell, are also buried.
Carroll came from a military family. His father, Manton, was a graduate of West Point (in the same class as his friend, General George Patton) and served in Europe in World War I. So it was only natural that Carroll would also pursue a career in the Army, a career that lasted more than 28 years.
After completing ROTC at Stanford University in 1934, Carroll’s first duty in the military was to be part of a team running camps for the Civilian Conservation Corps, the Depression-era program that helped young people find work on various government projects. It was through his assignment to a camp in Baker City that first brought him to the area. Coming from the big city of San Francisco to the wide-open spaces and tall mountains of Eastern Oregon marked a turning point in Carroll’s life. He fell in love with the area and wanted to stay.
With the outbreak of World War II, Carroll went on active duty in 1940. He eventually served in the Pacific Theatre for almost 28 months and was involved in operations in the Aleutian Islands, Okinawa, the Philippines and the island of Kwajalein in the South Pacific. After the war, Carroll returned to Baker City and continued in the active reserve. He retired as a lieutenant colonel.
Upon his return to the area, Carroll looked for services that the community needed and that he could perform. He saw the need for accountants, so he founded the first CPA firm in the area. The firm, known for many years as Mitchell and Guyer, is now known as Guyer, Lindley, Bailey and Martin.
Anyone who knew Carroll could tell what was most important in his life and the core values of integrity, morality and loyalty that he stood for. Despite the often long hours that being a CPA required, he still found time to invest in his family, his community, his country and even other countries.
His love for his family was evidenced throughout his life by his desire to love and honor his wife Joyce, to see his children have a good name, to be educated and have the opportunities to travel and live in other countries.
His love for his community of Baker City was carried out through his help in bringing Baker College into its brief existence, his involvement in the Lions Club, and work on other matters of civic interest. Carroll also was involved in politics and served as chairman of the Republican Central Committee in Baker County.
His love for other people in the community found a number of different outlets. Carroll was the co-founder of the Baker Chapter of the Full Gospel Businessmen’s Fellowship, a non-denominational organization founded to reach out to businessmen with the love of Christ. Over the course of 22 years, Carroll and others brought many noted speakers to Baker City who shared powerful testimonies of what Christ did in their lives. Carroll desired that even those in jail would have a chance to know the liberating power of Jesus Christ so he became the first appointed Chaplain for Baker County Jail and served in that capacity for 21 years. He then became the first Chaplain at the Powder River Correctional Facility.
As far as love of country, Carroll’s patriotism was unquestionable. He was a strong supporter of the military and was committed to living out and educating others about the Christian principles on which this nation was founded. He was very interested in the U.S. Constitution and did not hesitate to voice his disapproval when politicians seemed to stray from following it.
Carroll’s love for other countries was seen through his travel to many nations, his involvement in local exchange student organizations, and the many persons from other countries who he invited over for a meal.
In 1956 Carroll married Joyce Boorman, a World War II veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps who had traveled extensively and served in the diplomatic corps in Pakistan. Together, Carroll and Joyce poured themselves into community activities, their church, politics and their growing family.
Carrroll is survived by his wife of 47 years, Joyce. Carroll and Joyce’s firstborn son, Kim H. Mitchell, lives in Virginia Beach, Va., with his wife Maggie and daughter Renee. Their second son, Kirk C. Mitchell, lives in Washington, D.C., along with his wife Annie, daughter Grace, son James and daughter Lydia. He is also survived by his two sons from a previous marriage: Carroll II (Squeakie) and his wife Kathleen of Baker City, and Matt Mitchell of San Diego.
Memorial contributions can be made to Agape Christian Center or New Hope Church through Coles Funeral Home, 1950 Place St., Baker City, OR 97814.
Used with permission from: Baker City Herald, Baker City, Oregon, January 30, 2004
Transcribed by: Belva Ticknor