Obituaries

Carol Ann Isgrig, age 88, of Battle Creek, Michigan, died on Friday, July 4, 2025, at Pennington Home Assisted Living in Pickford, Michigan. She was born on June 8, 1937, in Dayton, Ohio, to Maurice and Estelle (Brown) Brinkman.

Carol grew up in Dayton and graduated from Chaminade-Julienne Catholic High School. She spent nine years as a secretary at Wright Patterson Air Force Base. It was there that she met Col. Audrin R. Walker. They married on June 26, 1964, at the WPAFB Chapel. Shortly after their marriage, Col. Walker retired and they moved to Springfield, Ohio, where they raised their children and spent many happy years restoring their historic home. Carol was widowed in 1986 and subsequently reconnected with a dear friend, Col. Elvin Isgrig. They married on September 24, 1994, and settled in Fargo, North Dakota, where they lived for the next twenty-three years. During those years they split their time between Fargo and Battle Creek where Carol’s daughter and granddaughters lived, eventually moving permanently to Battle Creek.

Carol lived a full life filled with love, laughter, and a wide variety of interests and hobbies. She had a
wonderfully irreverent sense of humor and a bright twinkle in her eye. She loved games of all kinds, and many hours were spent playing Parcheesi, Chinese Checkers, Mah Jongg, Yahtzee, Double Solitaire, and Whist. She loved visiting her grandsons in Columbus, Ohio, and taught them to make sidewalk ice cream and enjoyed watching their soccer games. She and Audrin built a cabin on Marquette Island in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, where they would spend every summer for many years, entertaining family and friends and creating many wonderful memories for everyone who visited. She organized tea parties in the woods and picnics on the boat and trips to the Bon Air ice cream parlor for chocolate sodas on Saturday nights. Hikes through the woods, fireplace dinners, reading on the screened porch, and marathon games of Parcheesi were the backbone of her daughter and grandchildren’s childhoods.

She and Elvin traveled to numerous destinations, her favorites being Australia where they attended Madame
Butterfly at the Sydney Opera House, and to England where they spent a week exploring London and indulging her great love of all things British. She loved afternoon tea and made fabulous scones with clotted cream. She and Elvin had an Airstream camper that they had restored together and would take to Wisconsin and Michigan with their grandchildren for week long camping trips. They also had a ’62 Corvette that they would take to car
shows and parades and frequently met with friends from North Dakota State University for “Bowling
Avoidance” at Paradiso restaurant. During summers in Fargo, she and Elvin enjoyed taking their grandchildren to the zoo, to daily swimming lessons, for ice cream, to baseball games, and to air shows.

She enjoyed crafts and taught many of us to needlepoint, cross-stitch, and crochet; how to make sand candles on the beach, and how to cook. She was known to make the “best pie crust east of the Mississippi” and enjoyed making Julia Child-worthy dinners with her son-in-law Dan. Her passion for reading was passed on to all of us, and she always had a book or two going. She loved all the holidays and made each of them very special with elegant decorations, beautifully wrapped presents and fabulous meals. Her very favorite holiday though, was
Halloween, and every October her house would be decked out with witches, ghosts, and bats and she delighted in Trick or Treat. Each year she would host a Witches’ Tea Party for her daughters and granddaughters, incorporating both her love of Halloween with her love of afternoon tea. She was a Girl Scout leader for many years, and she tutored adults through a literacy program at the Warder Public Library in Springfield. She was involved in the Fargo Fine Arts program as well as the Dayton Power Squadron. She was an avid Ohio State fan, and spent many happy Saturdays cheering on the Buckeyes with her son-in-law Robert and enjoyed her weekly visits with her good friend and neighbor Lorrie. Above all, Carol adored her grandchildren and treasured
every moment spent with family and friends.

Carol is survived by her daughters, Maggie (Dan) Gregory of Estero, Florida, and Suzy (Bob Newell) Walker of Hessel; former son-in-law and good friend, Robert Knapp of Battle Creek; grandchildren, Jamie (Kristen) Gregory, Patrick (Melissa) Gregory, Michael Gregory, Audra (Vince) Libiran, and Amy (Jeff) Slater; great grandchildren, Maybelle, Jackie, and Bennett; nieces and nephews, Patsy (Pete) Kisielewski, Angela Seibel, and Mike (Barbara) Seibel and numerous great nieces and nephews.

Carol was preceded in death by her parents, Maurice and Estelle; first husband, Audrin; second husband, Elvin; and sister, Phyllis (Melvin) Seibel.

A Graveside Service will be held on Thursday, July 17th at 11:30 a.m. at Fort Custer National Cemetery, 15501 Dickman Rd, Augusta, MI 49012.

Memorial donations may be made to the Pennington Home, 665 S Pleasant St, Pickford, MI 49774, or McLaren Hospice, 1 Hiland Drive, Petoskey, MI 49770.