Carol Todd Spence was born July 19, 1941 in Hampton, Virginia. Not long after her birth, her father William L. Todd had to go fight in World War II in Europe and North Africa. He returned unscathed, and was a banker, eventually rising to become a vice president of the Bank of Virginia. Carol had a very middle class childhood, growing up in Hampton in the 1950s. She had two sisters, Debra Todd Scott and Polly Todd.
In 1959, she went to college at Mary Washington College in Fredericksburg, Virginia where she met a Marine Corps lieutenant who was going through training at Quantico, George B. Spence, Jr. After a brief courtship, she married him at age 19. She spent three years as a Marine Corps wife at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.
After leaving the Marine Corps, Carol’s husband found employment in Calvert County, Maryland as an agronomist with the University of Maryland. Carol and George moved to Lusby, Maryland and attended church at Middleham Chapel. In 1966, Carol gave birth to their only child, George Broughton Spence III at Calvert Memorial Hospital. The young family lived briefly in Raleigh, North Carolina while George Jr. attended graduate school. In 1969 the couple built a house on a small farm in Lower Marlboro, where she lived the rest of her life and where she died peacefully. While her husband continued to work for the University of Maryland as the county agent for 30 years, the couple farmed, eventually buying a larger farm in Sunderland.
Carol excelled as the financial manager of the family, allowing the family to prosper. She was a wonderful mother to her son, Broughton. As a stay-at-home mother, she lavished attention on him and provided him with opportunities that allowed him to excel academically.
Carol loved to travel, and the family visited all 48 continental states together, often camping to save money. By car and train, they traveled as far north as Manitoba in Canada, and as far south as Mexico. Later, she led her family all over Central America, the Caribbean and Europe. She wasn’t afraid to travel to dangerous places, such as Peru and Guatemala during periods of war. She continued to travel into her 70s, visiting about 40 different countries. Thanks to her friends the Ullbergs, she and her husband were able to visit Hawaii. Carol said that of all the places she had been, her favorite was Turkey. When Carol wasn’t traveling, she was studying maps and planning her next journey. She was also an avid reader, particularly of mystery novels. She followed current events, watching the news constantly. She was able to sew and knit and made many nice things for the people she loved including several quilts.
Her triplet grandchildren, George IV, Abby and Ella were perhaps her greatest joy. She was able to pass on to them her wisdom, and her love of travel, taking them to the Bahamas and the Dominican Republic. When George IV developed an interest in UFOs at the age of 7, she planned a family vacation that enabled him to visit Roswell, New Mexico and Meteor Crater, Arizona, along with the Grand Canyon and many other sights.

Carol is survived by her husband George B. Spence, Jr., her son G. Broughton Spence III and his wife Laurie, grandchildren George B. IV, Abigail C., and Eleanor Spence, and sisters Polly Todd of Clarksburg, MD and Debra Todd Scott of Hampton, VA.

A Memorial Mass of Christian Burial will be Celebrated Wednesday May 16 at 11:00 AM at the Covenant Community of Jesus the Good Shepherd, Owings, MD.