Carol Noel Seaman

December 29, 1944 - September 28, 2025

We remember Carol Jean Noel Seaman, born to Jean Elizabeth Campbell and Leon Noel in Marion, Virginia, on December 29, 1944. Born into the “Rich Valley” of farmlands and mountain forests where her Scottish immigrant family had settled generations before, Carol and her younger sister, Margaret Elizabeth Noel Williams, considered this a forever home-base to reunite with cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents.

Carol’s early formation also included a year-long struggle with nephritis, the sudden death of her father, and the civil rights movement, as the family lived in Little Rock, Arkansas, and Camp Springs, Maryland. A bright student, close friend, and innate trailblazer, Carol was inspired to major in biology at Mary Baldwin College, Class of 1967.

We remember Carol making her way in the world. When she and her husband of 25 years, William Seaman, Jr., moved to pursue graduate degrees at the University of Florida, she decided between pre-med and teaching — ultimately choosing teaching, which she did at Hawthorne High School until their family started growing.

William Scott, Ashley Elizabeth, and Amy Hope were raised in Gainesville, Florida. Their family life included weekends at Redwater Lake, close-knit interdependence with dear neighbors, and well-orchestrated trips.

Carol’s volunteering at First Presbyterian Church soon became her work on the church staff, leading her to attend Columbia Theological Seminary (Class of 1995) in Decatur, Georgia while her children were in college. She especially loved Old Testament theology, preaching, and study travel in the Holy Land.

Committed to changing the world with pastoral care and prophetic challenge, Carol accepted the call to Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church in Manhattan. The hustle, bustle, and brilliant diversity of NYC inspired Carol toward even more creative and relevant ministries. From there, Carol went on to serve churches as Intentional Interim Pastor in Clinton and Smoke Rise, New Jersey; Pittsburgh and Mt. Lebanon Pennsylvania; Hickory, North Carolina; Kingsport, Tennessee, and Waynesboro, Virginia.

In retirement, Carol moved to Highlands Ranch, Colorado, to live near two of her three children, nine of her fifteen grandchildren, and two of her favorite family cats. These years were rich with joy, as well as the onset of Parkinson’s disease.

Carol died on Sunday, September 28, 2025.

Donations

Gifts in honor of Carol may be sent to
The Seaman Trust
c/o Sigler and Nelson LLC
215 Union Blvd, Suite 400
Lakewood, CO 80228.

Carol’s Celebration of Life

 

Saturday, November 15, 2025
2:00 pm
Rich Valley Presbyterian Church
3811 Valley Road
Saltville, Virginia 24370