Heaven gained an angel when Carolyn Joyce Bair (Stiles), 88 years, passed away September 18, 2026, surrounded by family and friends. She was born February 8, 1938, in Petersburg, Michigan, to Calvin T. Stiles and Carrie R. Stiles (Jennings).
She grew up in a small house on Rauch Road with her sister Nancy, a childhood of limited means but lasting resourcefulness. She graduated from Bedford High School in 1956, where she met Cloyd Larry Bair. They married on June 11, 1960—a date Carolyn had to remind Cloyd was the 11th, not the 10th.
In 1966, they made their home on School Road in Temperance, where Carolyn would live for the rest of her life. That house became a hub for family, friends, and anyone who needed a place at the table.
While raising her children, Carolyn was primarily a stay-at-home mother, whose early interest in health foods became family lore. Later, she earned an associate’s degree from Monroe County Community College. Carolyn became a dietitian, working at Lake Park Rehabilitation Hospital in Toledo.
Carolyn was preceded in death by her husband, Cloyd Larry Bair; her daughter, Joyce Ann Zuccarell (Bair); her sister, Nancy Lou (Stiles) Dentel; and her daughter-in-law, Robin Hodges.
She is survived by her longtime partner, Donald Eugene “Gene” Parrish; her son, Lawrence Allen Bair and his partner, Vida Morkunas; her son-in-law, Randall K. Zuccarell; and her grandchildren, Jeffrey Allen Bair and his wife, Vilde Thomseth; Elizabeth (Bair) Herrin and her husband, Christopher Herrin; Anna (Zuccarell) Taylor and her husband, Dan Taylor; Sofia Zuccarell; and Randa (Zuccarell) Lake and her husband, Louis Lake. She is also survived by her great-grandchildren, Nora Taylor, Aubrie Lake, Archer Lake, August Lake, Lily Herrin, and Luke Herrin, as well as other members of her extended family.
Carolyn will be remembered for her limitless patience and love, her quiet generosity, her practical creativity in the kitchen, and the way she gathered people around a table—or made new friends on a river cruise. She opened her home and her heart easily, whether for Friday-night spaghetti with her granddaughters, her famous deviled eggs, or simply providing a place to stay when someone needed one.
She found deep companionship with Gene in her later years and embraced new experiences, travel, family, and friendship with warmth and humor. Most of all, Carolyn had a way of making sure everyone had a place.
Visitation will be held on Friday, October 2, 2026 from 2:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. in the Urbanski’s Bedford Funeral Chapel 8300 Lewis Avenue, Temperance, MI where the funeral service will be held on Saturday, October 3, 2026 at 11:00 a.m. Burial will follow in the Bedford Memorial Cemetery. Online condolences may be shared at www.bedfordfuneralchapel.com.
