Carolyn W. Hastings

CAROLYN W. HASTINGS   Tupelo - Carolyn Archie Warner Hastings, 94, passed away January 13, 2016 at the North Mississippi Medical Center, Hospice in Tupelo. She was born June 8, 1921, in Hopkinsville, Kentucky to Archie and Clyde Warner. She was raised and educated in Louisville, Kentucky, and in May of 1943 she graduated from the University of Louisville. She was employed as librarian at the University of Louisville from 1943 to 1945 until she married the Rev. Tom Hastings. They were married at Calvary Episcopal Church in Louisville in 1945 and remained married for 66 years until his death in 2011. She loved and supported her husband as he served as a dedicated Episcopal priest over the course of fifty years. She also served as librarian in the Mississippi library system in Tunica, Sardis and Batesville from 1966 to 1996.                                                    Carolyn's adult life was dedicated to serving God, her husband, the Episcopal church and to loving her four children, nine grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. She was a selfless and humble minister's wife with a servant's heart, spirit and actions. She exhibited a constant and steady spirit of wisdom, humility, love and compassion. Carolyn loved worshipping the Lord, learning and singing the great liturgical hymns, reading all types of literature, planting and enjoying all kinds of flowers, and watching sports, especially her Louisville Cardinals. She composed poems as a young child and as a librarian she was an avid reader all of her life.   She was preceded in death by her husband, the Rev. Thomas Hastings. She is survived by brother, Clyde King Warner, Jr. of Louisville, Ky.; four children, John Hastings (Kathleen) of McLean, Va., Anne Koonce (Mark) of Cleveland, David Hastings (Jean) and Richard Hastings (Leslie) both of Tupelo; nine grandchildren, Evans Koonce (Andi), Anna Koonce Catt (Jason), Dr. Erin Hastings Monari (Clint), Kendra Hastings Lee (George), David Hastings, Jonathan Hastings, Patrick Hastings, Abbey Hastings, and Olivia Hastings; five great-grandsons and two great-granddaughters. The family would like to express special gratitude to Carolyn's faithful caregivers, Betty Donaldson and Norma Patrick.   A memorial service will take place at 1 p.m. Friday, January 15, 2016, at All Saints Episcopal Church, Tupelo. Visitation will be from 11:30 a.m. until 12:45 p.m. in the Parish Hall at the church. Final interment will be at Rose Hill Cemetery in Sardis where Carolyn will be laid to rest next to her husband under the care of W. E. Pegues Funeral Directors.   Memorial gifts in Mrs. Hastings honor may be made to the Holy Innocents Episcopal Church in Como, Mississippi, PO Box 391, Como, MS 38619 or All Saints Episcopal Church, Tupelo, 608 W. Jefferson Street, Tupelo, MS 38804.   Expressions of sympathy may be left at www.peguesfuneralhome.com .