Caroll Lea VanDeventer celebrated the day after Christmas in heaven as she left this earth to be with her Creator on December 26, 2023. A celebration of life will be 2:00 p.m. Friday, December 29, 2023 at the Strode Funeral Home Chapel with Karen Allen officiating. Burial will follow in Fairlawn Cemetery. Strode Funeral Home and Cremation is in charge of the arrangements.

Caroll was born to William and Emma Adler on November 17, 1938 in Morrison, Oklahoma, where she spent her childhood growing up on the family farm. She enjoyed playing basketball, was a quick learner and skipped two grades in elementary school. She was active in her high school organizations and graduated in 1955 at the age of 16. It was in high school that she met her future husband, Bob VanDeventer. The two dated throughout high school and would marry on September 24, 1955, just a few months after her graduation. They celebrated their 61st wedding anniversary before his death in October 2016.

Following their marriage in 1955, they made their home in Stillwater where Caroll enjoyed working at Katz's Department Store and was a homemaker. While in Stillwater, they had three children Karrie, Doug and Celia. With a young family, Bob and Caroll reconnected with a high school friend who was opening a photography business in Pawnee. They would continue raising their young family in Pawnee while learning the photography business. Together, they worked at Jerry's Studio until 1979 when they decided to open their own photography business in Cleveland, Oklahoma.

The studio in Cleveland officially opened in 1981 in the upstairs area of one of the buildings because it was the only vacancy on Broadway at the time. Knowing their last name of VanDeventer wasn't catchy enough for business, Caroll saw the word "vanguard" one day, which means to lead the way by moving forward. Since they were branching out on their own together, the name was a perfect fit and Vanguard Photography was born. While Bob had taught himself the photography side mentoring under Jerry, Caroll learned to hand-color and retouch his photographs and negatives so the two could work together. He worked at the studio and she was at home, raising the children and doing the hand-coloring and retouching in her painting room.

The business became an icon for photography in the area photographing schools, dignitaries, police academy cadets, Osage Tribal Council members and numerous weddings. Caroll was known for her Master Artist skills. She was a gifted artist and did hundreds of touch-ups and colorizations on black and white portraits. As a couple, Bob was a Master Photographer, Craftsman and Caroll, Master Artist, Craftsman and together, they received the highest honor given by Professional Photographers of America twice - in 1983 (Southwest Region) and again in 1993 (Oklahoma). In January 2018, she won an Artisan's Life Achievement Award with Professional Photographers of America.

In addition to her work at the studio, Caroll, alongside her daughter, Celia opened a Merle Norman franchise in the front of the studio. Celia had already been part of the families' photography business serving as manager so the move to be in business together was only natural. Together, Carol and Celia worked alongside each other for 30 years in the photography business and with their Merle Norman business.

Outside of the professional world, Caroll enjoyed many hobbies including cross-stitching, and playing cards with her dear friends. One of her favorite things was being a No. 1 cheerleader for her children in whatever activity they were involved in whether it was sports, school, or church. She and Bob were at every activity and later she became an even bigger cheerleader for her grandchildren and great grandchildren. Caroll was a member of First Christian Church in Cleveland.

Caroll was preceded in death by her parents and her husband.

She is survived by her brother, Billy Adler; two daughters, Karrie McCaslin of Yukon and Celia Hardin and her husband, Gregg, of Norman; her son, Doug VanDeventer and his wife, Julie, of Cortez, Colorado; eight grandchildren, Kylene, Zach, Joseph, Erin, Kortney, Cody, Alex, and Jake; as well as 13 great grandchildren.

Those wishing to honor Caroll's life may do so by making memorial contributions to the Nelson/Helt Scholarship Fund with the Professional Photographers of Oklahoma, P.O. Box 1779 Blanchard, Oklahoma 73010 or at www.ppok.org/donate , put Nelson Helt Fund in comments. This scholarship was near and dear to Caroll's heart as it was given to the top placer of new photographers entering the PPOK competition. Caroll had the privilege of presenting the award at the annual banquet each year.

The family would like to thank Kent Olmstead, long-time friend of Bob and Caroll and Mona Greenwood who cared for Caroll, allowing her to stay in her Cleveland home until the last few months. They also would like to thank Sommerset Neighborhood Assisted Living and Frontier Hospice for their recent care.