Tue, 02/02/2021 - 7:08pm
Carol Sue (Patterson) Lewis died Tuesday, January 26, in Lubbock, Texas, from complications caused by COVID-19.
Carol was born September 22, 1943, in Snyder, Texas, to Homer and Jessie B Patterson of Fluvanna. Carol’s father died when she was 2 years old, and she was raised by Jessie B and O.D. Jackson of Gail.
Before the days of kindergarten, Carol started school in Gail at 5 years old. Carol’s mother was county clerk at the time, and it was widely reported that Carol was put in school a year early to reduce her pestering county courthouse employees. She later skipped 2nd grade, graduating high school at 16.
At 2:21 a.m. on Dec. 25, fire awoke occupants of the Echo Mountain Inn. The fire consumed an outbuilding that housed the inn’s business office and health spa. “Valley Hill Fire Department was here in less than 15 minutes,” said Bud Bonnema, a retired police officer from Minnesota who bought the property with his wife, Jan, in July of 2019. “They were great. Another two minutes and we could have easily lost more buildings.” The two-story 3,000-square-foot building, which stood less than 50 feet from the main inn, has been deemed a total loss. The fire marshal’s report did not determine a cause but did suggest that it could have been an electrical fire or it may have originated from a space heater. Built in 1896 as a summer home for John H. and Jessie B. Patterson of Jacksonville, Florida, the main building has been operated as an inn since the 1920s by numerous subsequent owners.