Carol Wyatt

Carol Wyatt, of Lumberton, Texas, passed away on April 1, 2023, after a long battle with cancer.

Carol was born in Marshall, Texas, on October 20, 1943, to Charles Wyatt and Mildred Hills Wyatt.  After they divorced, Carol and Mildred moved to Denton where they lived with Carol’s maternal grandmother Frances and aunt Nancy for several years until Mildred found a teaching job in Port Neches.  She and Carol moved there and not long afterward Mildred met and married Earl Strube, a union that produced Carol’s sister, Sharla, and brother Kent.  Carol attended Port Neches-Groves High School, where she was co-captain of the Indianettes, and after graduation went on to Baylor University on a voice scholarship.  She received her B.A. degree in Music  under the tutelage of opera teacher Tina Piazza, who also recommended her as a student to Maestro Japelli of the La Scala Opera House in Milan, Italy.

After studying for several years at La Scala, Carol launched her career as a mezzo soprano on stages throughout Europe and North America, singing with the likes of Luciano Pavarotti and Placido Domingo. For more than twenty years she was a principal soloist with the Deutsch Oper Berlin.  Among her many roles there and as a guest singer were Carmen in the opera Carmen, Hansel in Hansel and Gretel, Amneris in Aida, Princes Eboli in Don Carlos, Jokasta in Oedipus and Marina in Boris Godunov.  She also made numerous concert and festival appearances with orchestras across Europe.

In the early 1980s Carol found her God and the course of her life changed.  As she began moving in a different direction, she used her free time to study the Bible and read the works of great Bible teachers.  During this time, her love for the Jewish people grew, and she knew that she was to use her gift of music for the Lord.  She developed a vision how she, along with other musicians, could bless Israel and show God’s love for the Jewish people through the universal language of music.

After more than two decades of singing professionally, Carol returned to the U.S. to attend Rhema Bible College in Tulsa, Oklahoma.  She established Song of Joy Ministry in 2000 and became an ordained Christian minister in 2003. She completed training for the International Fellowship of Chaplains and worked several years with the International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem, participating in their celebration of the Jewish Feast of the Tabernacles through music and dance.  In 2018 she attended the first meeting of the Jerusalem Prayer Breakfast and remained part of that group.  She also was one of the founders of Wilberforce 3 Speakers Bureau, an organization that mentors and encourages women to change their world.

Over the years, Carol developed a special place in her heart for Holocaust survivors and often said that her greatest pleasure in life had been ministering to them.  On numerous occasions, she organized groups of professional Christian musicians from around the world and led them on trips to Israel for that purpose, performing in churches, concert halls and retirement communities.

In addition to her work in Israel, Carol ministered in the U.S., Russia, Germany and among nomadic reindeer breeders in the Arctic Circle.  She also ministered to Alzheimer’s patients in retirement and nursing homes wherever she went.  And she recorded a CD of her favorite hymns, Timeless Classics, as part of her ministry.

Carol is preceded in death by her grandmother, Frances Hills; her parents, Mildred and Earl Strube; and her father, Charles Wyatt.  Carol is survived by her sister, Sharla Strube and her husband Vic Hinterlang; her brother Kent Strube and his wife Lili; and her sister Monique Wyatt.

Members of the family would like to thank Sue Sheriff, the staff at Harbor Hospice and Dr. Gwendolyn Lavalais for caring for Carol at the end of her life.

A memorial celebration of Carol’s life will be at 2:00 p.m., Tuesday, May 2, 2023, at Parkway Life Church, 1865 South Farm to Market Road 3513, Lumberton, Texas. Her cremation arrangements were handled through Broussard’s Crematorium, 5150 Stivers Street, Beaumont, under the direction of Broussard’s, 1605 North Major Drive, Beaumont.