Carol Lee Munson
April 27, 1941 – June 15, 2026
Carol Lee (Hammond) Munson passed away with family by her side on June 15, 2026 at Madrone Hospice House in Yreka. Carol was born in Yreka at the Siskiyou General Hospital to parents Carl and Jessie Hammond on April 27, 1941. At that time, Carl was a timber faller and the family lived in Pondosa, California, but visited the Hammond Ranch outside Fort Jones often. On June 1, 1945, the family purchased and moved to the Scott Valley Angus Ranch outside Etna with their three children, Helen, Clyde, and Carol with Carl Junior being born later that year. Running the ranch was a family affair, and Carol contributed to doing chores and helping her parents with farming. In 1946, the first registered Angus cattle were purchased, and Carol became the very proud owner of her heifer, Jean McHenry Barbara 7 – who became the foundation cow of the current Barbara cow family at Kohl Creek Angus.
Carol was active in 4-H and achieved Siskiyou County All-Star status. She attended Etna Elementary School then Etna High School. A boy, Pete Munson, in the class of 1958 was in some of her classes and a romance began that lasted for 62 years. Carol made Pete wait to get married, so after graduating from Etna High School in 1959, Carol attended Heald Business College in Sacramento. The cows needed to get to the mountains the first week of July, and once that was done, off to Reno Carol and Pete went, marrying on July 16, 1960.
A career with the US Forest Service took Pete and Carol to Happy Camp that first year, with their son, Cliff, being born in March of 1961 in Etna. The family moved to Greenview and their second child, Lori, was born in Yreka in July 1962. The family then moved to Fay Lane in Scott Valley and Rob was born on Lori’s birthday in July 1964 completing their family. After cooking for fire camps and serving as a telephone operator for Siskiyou Telephone, Carol began her government career in 1974. Initially she went to work for the U.S. Forest Service in Gasquet as a payroll clerk where she was rewarded for her meticulous timekeeping. Upon moving to Horse Creek, Carol served as the assistant postmaster at the Horse Creek Store. She later moved to the Klamath River Post Office before returning to the Forest Service. She retired at the age of 65 having worked for the government for over 30 years.
In 1977, Carol and Pete started Kohl Creek Angus Ranch with some of Carol’s original cow herd. Carol was actively involved in the day-to-day operation of the ranch from then on. In 2009, the Siskiyou County Cattlewomen honored her dedication to the local beef industry by naming her Siskiyou County Pioneer Beef Woman. Just this first week of June the family cow herd was artificially inseminated, a pivot irrigation project was completed, and the first cutting hay crop was baled, with Carol remaining involved in it all. During her final weeks as grandchildren visited her, she would remind them, “be nice to my cows.”
Carol had four battles with cancer, which began in 2006, where she was given a 50% chance of survival. Over the last 20 years she lived through 2 more battles in 2021 and 2023. She saw the last 20 years as a gift. Despite her health challenges, during the past two years she adored helping at Munson Family Day Care where all the children loved her and will miss “Grandma Carol”.
Carol was extremely proud of her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. If you asked, she would say “I am so blessed, I got to see all my grandkids graduate, get married and I have 29 wonderful great grandchildren and one on the way!”
She is survived by her children – Cliff Munson (Maryann), Lori Bennett (John) and Rob Munson (Eileen); Her grandchildren: Kyle, Jerrod, Will, Jennifer, Ryan, Kacey, Mike, Taylor, Jordan, Brittany, Robbie, Nick and Preston, and all of their spouses, Christa, Laura, Chelsea, Trevor, Ali, Brett, Katie, Kelsey, Maddie, Curtis, Rylie, Lydia, and Dakota; along with 29 great-grandchildren – Cliff & Maryann’s grandchildren: Brady, Regan, Logan, Hadley, Makenna, Emmett, Jack, Tyson, Cyrus, Ellen, Ruth, Merritt, Lincoln and Kane; Lori & John’s grandchildren: Harrison, Jacqueline, Miles, Conner, Sadie, and Abigail; and Rob & Eileen’s grandchildren: Kye, June, Reese, Emilia, Parker, Bowen, Annie, Wyatt and Nash.
Carol is preceded in death by her husband, Robert “Pete” Munson, parents Carl and Jessie Hammond and brother Clyde Hammond.
Graveside services will be held at the Etna Cemetery on July 3, 2026 at 11:00 AM. In lieu of flowers donations in memory of Carol may be made to Madrone Hospice (255 Collier Circle, Yreka), Scott Valley Scholarships (PO Box 352, Etna) or a charity of one’s choice.
Sourced for Girdner Funeral Chapel.
