Carol Lee Wienrank

Carol Lee (Harbit) Wienrank, age 80, passed away May 30, 2026, at her home in West Lafayette, Indiana, following a brief battle with glioblastoma. She faced her illness with the same strength and fierce independence with which she always lived life.

Carol was born to Donald Pearl and Vernondale Jeannette (Toomey) Lake on December 22, 1945, while the halls of St. Mary’s Mercy Hospital in Gary, Indiana were filled with the voices of Christmas carolers, prompting her mother to decide that “Carol” was the perfect name for this newborn baby girl.

She was adopted by Merle Burke Harbit and Babian Love Joyal in Lake County, Indiana on September 12, 1947. While Carol’s childhood was often tumultuous, she found joy in singing, ballet, and daredevil acrobatics, teaching herself to hang by her heels from the makeshift trapeze she had her parents create from an old broom handle.

After bouncing around from school to school, Carol ended up settling in Morocco, Indiana in seventh grade and attended Morocco High School until the end of her junior year in 1963. More than two decades later, Carol would receive her GED before earning a degree in elementary education from Saint Joseph’s College, Rensselaer, Indiana in 1992.

Carol married Raymond Dale Wienrank at the First Presbyterian Church in Goodland, Indiana on July 19, 1964. She brought one son into the marriage and welcomed three more children before the two divorced on December 22, 1988.

During the marriage, Carol’s resourcefulness was in full force. As a farm wife, not only did she sew clothing for herself and her children, maintain gardens large enough to keep the family in home-canned produce for the year, and churn her own butter, but she also learned to repair the refrigerator, refinish furniture, and do basic plumbing. She even designed her own version of the stocks to hold turkeys as she butchered them, when at 4’10” and barely 100 lbs., she wasn’t strong enough and her arms weren’t long enough to do so without the risk of chopping off her own foot in the process. Her Christmas wish list often consisted of power tools well into her seventies.

Carol always found a way to provide and get things done. In 1978, she capitalized on her hobbies of sewing, crocheting, and crafting, and started her own business out of the family basement making quilts and other crafts. Not only did she finish quilts for others, but she also designed custom quilts to order, and crafted numerous quilts she sold out of the house and at festivals throughout the area, even creating a quilt for the historic Wolcott House in Wolcott, Indiana. Following her divorce, she supported her family and paid her way through college by working three jobs while raising two minor children and taking 21-24 credit hours of college courses per semester. Once she earned her degree, Carol took a job with Kankakee Valley School Corporation, teaching special education at both the middle school and intermediate school levels, retiring in 2013, after 20 years in the classroom. Carol also spent several years as a foster parent, a realtor, and a member of the Milroy Township Board in Jasper County, Indiana.

Carol leaves behind three children, Paula Rayburn of Wingate, Indiana, Richard (Julie) Wienrank of Mount Ayr, Indiana, and Kathy Wienrank of West Lafayette, Indiana; four grandchildren, Ashley (Joshua) Hall of Lafayette, Indiana, Kyle (Haily) Rayburn of Indianapolis, Indiana, Zachary Wienrank of Rensselaer, Indiana, and Kaylie (Jordan) Hanna of Rensselaer, Indiana; three great-granddaughters; and two biological sisters. She was preceded in death by one son, Warren “Scott” Wienrank; a grandson, Cameron Rayburn; her biological and adoptive parents; an adoptive brother and adoptive sister; two biological brothers and one biological sister.

At Carol’s request, there will be no services at this time. Her family will continue to honor her spirit by living the lessons of perseverance, determination, and resilience she taught them through her life and encourage others who knew her to do the same

Carol's care has been entrusted to Comfort Cremations, 674 N. 36th St., Lafayette, IN 47905 | (866) U-R-Loved | www.comfortcremations.net