Carol J. Shook, a former Miss Maryland and a longtime Carroll County volunteer, died Monday of complications of Alzheimer’s disease at Carroll Hospital Center. The lifelong Westminster resident was 84.
The former Mildred Carol Jennette — she never used her first name — was born at home on Main Street in Westminster. She was the daughter of Dr. William Carl Jennette Sr., a physician, and his wife, Mildred Jennette, a homemaker.
She was a 1953 graduate of Westminster High School and earned a bachelor’s degree in 1957 in liberal arts from Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C.
She was crowned Miss Maryland in 1955 and was the first winner from Carroll County, family members said.
In 1960, she married Dr. H. Kenneth Shook, a professor at Western Maryland College, now known as McDaniel College, who was dean of admissions for 17 years.
Mrs. Shook was the volunteer coordinator at the Carroll County Farm Museum for more than a decade. She also had volunteered at Meals on Wheels and the Westminster Historical Society and had served as president of the United Methodist Women’s Club.
Through the years, she taught water aerobics at the YMCA and had been a swimming instructor for the Red Cross.
Mrs. Shook and her husband were world travelers through Rotary International programs and enjoyed vacationing at Ocean City and Williamsburg, Va.
They also liked attending plays and musicals at McDaniel.
Mrs. Shook was a lifelong member of Westminster United Methodist Church at 165 E. Main St., where funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday.
In addition to her husband, she is survived by her son, William K. “Bill” Shook of Ellicott City; a daughter, Jennette Reynolds of Kutztown, Pa.; and three grandchildren. Another son, John Charles Shook, died in 1997.
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