Carolyn Virginia Webb

Carolyn Virginia Webb, 77, passed away on 7-12-2024 following a brief illness. She was surrounded by love, laughter, tears and good music, exactly as she wanted. Mom was an opportunist and a creative soul with a talent for photography, writing, exploring and finding humor and play through adversity, as suggested by her poem:

My mother was a wildfire

She set Daddy ablaze

Her sizzling 19 to his 58.

He should have known better

Being ordained and all.

But what's a man on fire to do?

Sex. That will do it.

Turned a girl into a blowtorch

And set some woods on fire.

She burned down the town

With all of us in it.

Scorched earth. Slow Burn.

That was Mother and Daddy.

They didn't make children.

They made charcoal.

It was our job to filter it down

And find our way out of hell.

Did we? Of course not.

You can't hold your breath that long.

You have to suck it in with every sob and go get some shock treatments

Or some husbands.

Or kill yourself, if you can get it to work.

Nothing works for a long time.

If you're lucky, you have a sister and she's wicked funny.

She writes a song about it and you sing it and you find your harmony.

Your laughter takes the heat.

Marshmallows.

Charred but sweet.

Dedicated to my sister, Mary John

Written by Carolyn Virginia Webb, 9-2008

Her mother was a Wildfire, but Virginia was her own Wildfire. She cheated death in 1988, halfway around the world while blazing her own Wildfire trail across Pakistan, India, Kenya, Scotland, England, Lithuania and China before returning to Chattanooga. Virginia led a life with her camera in hand, a quick wit and an exquisite eye for the unusual. Her passions were for her family, genealogy, photography, art and travel. Her husband, Randy Slater, shared her passion for art and travel and introduced her to the Desert Southwest where her camera consumed everything the desert had to offer. For many years, she was involved in the Chattanooga arts community where she befriended, influenced and supported many local artists. Her motto was "Without exposure, nothing develops".

In addition to her artistic creations, she was an avid genealogy researcher and creator of family trees. She was a proud Mayflower descendant and truly enjoyed making new family connections and helping others along their journey. Over the years, she made countless family trees for numerous people and established new relationships all across the country. Her greatest reward came from restoring ancient photographs from the past generations and bringing a new face into focus for those left behind.

Virginia was a beloved sister, Mom, Nanny, wife and friend. Her Wildfire burns on in her daughters, Lisa Rettie and Paige Thompson who are passing the Wildsparks to her grandchildren: her vibrant granddaughter Tessa Mae Catena and bad-ass grandsons Ryan Catena, Jesse Rettie and Wyatt Rettie. Those left to shed some tears, tell stories and share laughter for her also include her husband, Randy Slater, sisters Mary John (George) Davis and Beth (Edward) De'Andre, several nieces and nephews, a step-daughter, Johnna Beth Morgan and countless friends. In lieu of flowers, please register to vote and exercise your civic duty.