Carolyn Ann GRIJALVA

August 28, 1944 - December 26, 2020

Carolyn (Cara) Grijalva, 76, went to be with Our Lord on December 26, 2020. Cara was born in Galveston, TX on August 28, 1944, to Everett Daniel Brooks and Willodyne Gatewood Brooks. Her father was in B-17 gunnery training at Galveston. After WWII, they relocated to Oneonta, NY, where “Danny” had family. After Danny’s death in 1953, the family relocated to Hereford, TX. Cara finished high school in Abilene, TX, at Abilene Christian High School in 1962. She moved to Los Angeles in 1967 and began her career at Western Airlines as a pilot scheduler both in Los Angeles and in Anchorage, AK. She was most proud of obtaining her pilot’s license with a floatplane rating. Cara and husband Al Grijalva (US Air Force) were married in 1980 in Honolulu, Hawaii and transferred to Yokota Air Base, Japan in 1981. When they returned to the US, they moved to Little Rock, AR, where Carolyn returned to the travel industry as a travel agent. In 1997 they relocated to St Louis, MO, where she continued working in the travel industry. Cara loved to travel and took many trips: Tahiti, Hong Kong, Jamaica, Hawaii, Mexico, and Italy were just a few of the travel agent familiarization trips she was able to take. Cara and Al were active volunteers in St. Louis Family Church. Cara volunteered in the infant room and belonged to the women’s groups. She loved music, dancing, needlepoint and reading and was always humming a tune. She was a wonderful cook and enjoyed hosting dinner parties with her friends and family. Carolyn was preceded in death by her parents; children Michael Edwin Axe, Cara Michelle Axe Pounders, and Chad Wayne Myers; brothers Alan Brooks and Daniel Joseph Brooks. She is survived by husband Al Grijalva; daughters Cari Nicole Grijalva and Danielle Jeanine Holroyd (husband Devin Andrew); daughter-in-law Cindy McCracken Axe; sister Linda Brooks; sister-in-law Isabel Brooks; and numerous special family worldwide. In 1988 Carolyn and Al hosted a beloved exchange student from Norway, Eli Kristin. They always thought of Eli as another daughter. She is further survived by grandchildren: Shelby, Alicia, Chase, Victoria, Anya, and Willodyne (Eva) and one great granddaughter, Addison. There will be private services for Cara. In lieu of flowers, the family would like any memorials to be directed to St. Louis Family Church children’s ministry/JUMP in Chesterfield, Missouri.