Cullette's Life

Mary Cullette Carnohan – Her story in summary from Kelly’s perspective

Mary Cullette was born to Mike and Jeanie Carnohan on November 12, 1961. She was their fifth child, trailing me (Kelly) by 15 months, Her other siblings are Anna Alice Colleen, Diana Killarney and Michael Casey. When Cullette was 18 months old Mike abandoned the family, leaving Jeanie to raise the kids on her own.

Cullette received Jesus Christ as her savior when she was six years old. She was baptized on June 12, 1983. From a young age Cullette adored animals. Some of our childhood pets were chickens, ducks, rabbits, Louie (our dog), pollywogs, guppies and numerous cats!

Some of her favorite childhood pastimes were playing in the brush, sliding down fossil cliff on cardboard boxes, and building a fort in the trees by the road. She also loved the pond, the neighbor’s plum and apricot orchard, clay, the mush pit, Barbies and GI Joes, watching clouds go by, walking in the fields of tall grass (over her head), playing monkeys in the mock orange trees, and flying kites off the top of the water tank.

In her teen years Mary enjoyed listening to rock and roll, watching Star Trek, The Wizard of Oz, Gone with the Wind, As the World Turns, The Guiding Light (for mom), cutting class w/ Kathleen and Jonathan, learning to drive!, spending as little time at “home” as possible, and working at Jolly Burger and the bookstore,

From 1979-1983, Mary attended college – first at Palomar Junior College and then at San Diego State University. Mary and I went to Palomar together in 1979. She majored in Psychology and graduated in 1983.  She then worked for the Scripps Hospital radiology department. She spent her leisure time reading The Good Earth, and enjoying Magnum PI, Simon and Simon, and The Carol Burnett Show. Her favorite movies: Star Wars Episodes IV, V & VI, Raiders of the Lost Ark. She also enjoyed traveling w/ mom, visiting the zoo & the Wild Animal Park, and feeding the gulls on the beach.

In 1989, Mom and Mary moved to Portland, OR to attend Multnomah School of the Bible. Mary was considering full time missions work overseas, but that interest evaporated when she realized that she would have to raise her own support! Mary worked for Portland Adventist Medical Center and then for Hoffman Construction where she met her good friend Carolyne Savory. In Oregon Mary loved walking in the park – feeding the attack squirrels and bunnies, feeding the ducks stale bread, and observing Oregonians and making fun of them. Their pets were Nancy, Roxanne, and Ginger.

In 1992, Mary moved to Tampa, FL to rejoin mother. She worked at the Orthopedic Center in Brandon and at Mervyn’s. She also worked at the Psych hospital for about a year and a half. 1995 found Mom and Mary relocating back to San Diego. She changed her name to Cullette and worked temp jobs and then went to Callaway Golf in 1996. She worked there for 6 years. She then took 6 months off to travel, volunteer at the Zoo and consider what she wanted to do. She took Library Tech classes and then discovered that she couldn’t find a job. She also considered becoming a vet – but struggled with the Biology class. In August 2002, she took a job at the City of Oceanside.  This was perhaps her favorite job.

Cullette loved to watch Padre Baseball, Nature and Seinfeld on TV.  She also enjoyed: Jazzercise, adventures w/ Dana Morrison, reading, observing armadillo road kill (in Tampa), planting succulents and flowers in the garden, avoiding yard maintenance, and traveling.

In the fall of 2004, after the death of her cat Nancy (who had been with her for 20 years), Cullette joined me here in Franklin, TN. She worked temporarily for CVS and Vanderbilt University and then joined the staff at Fellowship Bible Church in April of 2005. Here in Tennessee, Cullette enjoyed spending time with me and my family, going for walks at Radnor Lake, Jazzercise, pet sitting, dispensing medical advice, providing snacks for the Fellowship staff, and Costco runs with Joel.

In the fall of 2007, Cullette relocated to Portland, OR. She returned to working at Hoffman Construction and reconnected with Carolyne Savory. Following her first suicide attempt in October 2008, she moved to Tucson, AZ for treatment. In recent months Cullette struggled increasingly with depression and panic attacks. On Friday, September 4, 2009, she took a massive overdose and went to bed. She did not wake up. I am confident that Cullette is now residing in heaven with our Savior, and that she is in perfect peace – singing with the choir!