It is with full and grateful hearts that we celebrate the life of Carolyn Ann Stradley. Ms. Stradley, 71, died peacefully at home surrounded by loved ones Sunday, June 25, 2017 after a long battle with a broadly diagnosed terminal illness.

Ms. Stradley, a prominent Cobb County businesswoman, led an extraordinary life. She was born on March 28, 1946 in Blairsville, GA to Glesta E. and Arthur W. Jones.  Her childhood was not easy: she lost her mother when she was 11 years old and suffered all of the hardships associated with growing up in impoverished, rural Appalachia. When she was 13, she moved to Atlanta in search of a better life. Shortly after her move, she enrolled herself into high school, where she would perform janitorial tasks in exchange for a hot meal.

When she was 15, she met and married Arthur Stradley. Her junior year of high school, when she was 16, she was forced to dropout when she became pregnant with their daughter, Tina. Undaunted, Ms. Stradley quickly enrolled in night school to complete her education.

After finishing her education, she started working for a paving company where her sharp mind and take-no-prisoners attitude quickly earned her the respect of her employers, so much so that they encouraged her to pursue a certificate in civil engineering. At the same time she was building her career, her husband was diagnosed with terminal kidney disease and after a three year battle, she was left widowed at the age of 26. Yet somehow, Ms. Stradley kept all of her plates in the air and she earned her civil engineering certificate from Georgia Tech in 1978. But this was still the 1970's, and having a woman in a leadership roll at a construction company was unheard of; Ms. Stradley was about to change all that.

When she realized she was not going to get the job she had earned simply because she was a woman, she struck out on her own and started C & S Paving, Inc. In doing so, she became one of the first women in the Southeastern United States to own a construction company. What started as a two person show (she started C & S Paving with her brother, Eldon), quickly built to one of the most successful paving companies in the Southeastern United States.

Some of the projects completed under her supervision include Underground Atlanta, the parking lot at Turner Field and the running track for the 1996 Olympics Games. Her success in business combined with her interminable ability to meet and overcome challenges in her personal life would eventually garner national attention; over the course of three decades, she met with five United States presidents, Democrat and Republican alike, proving that her story transcends ideological differences and is one of the great "American Dream" stories of the 20th century.

Her insatiable appetite for conquering every challenge didn't stop in the boardroom. While she was busy building C & S Paving into an unprecedented success, she also found time to earn her pilots license, hike Mt. Kilimanjaro and criss-cross the globe; many of her travels she undertook with her second husband, H. Leon Thompson, whom she married in December of 1984.

It was on one of their travels in 2013 where Ms. Stradley received a spider bite that would ultimately lead to the autoimmune disorder that would end her worldly adventures.

Ms. Stradley is survived by her husband, Mr. H. Leon Thompson of Marietta; her daughter Tina Abercrombie and son-in-law Robbie Abercrombie of Acworth; her step-daughter Kerri Casteel and step-son-in-law Tony Casteel of Marietta; Her granddaughters Lindsey McNeel of Dallas, GA, Robbin Carollo, of Roseburg, Oregon, Britney Rambo of Dallas, GA and Chloe Casteel of Marietta; along with six great-grandchildren; sister, Minnie Wheeler and brother-in-law, Jimmy Wheeler, of Blairsville; brother, Eldon Jones and sister-in-law, Shirley Jones of Marietta.

Visitation will be Monday, June 26, 2017 from 5:00 PM to 9:00 PM at Marietta Funeral Home. On Tuesday, she will lie in state from 10:00 to 11:00 AM at Piedmont Church, with a funeral service immediately following.

Internment will be Tuesday, June 27, 2017 at 2:00 PM Philadelphia Baptist Church Cemetery in Blairsville, Georgia.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to M.U.S.T. Ministries or to Piedmont Church for their "Love Does" outreach.

Proverbs 31:25-31.