Mack Aaron Carroll, 87, died April 15, 2023, in Belton.
Visitation was held at Sneed-Carnley Funeral Chapel on April 19.
Funeral services were held at Lampasas Methodist Church at 11 a.m. April 20, with a Masonic burial that followed at Smith Cemetery in Kempner.
Mack was born on Jan. 31, 1936, in Arabi, Georgia to John and Maxine (Plummer) Carroll. He grew up in rural Georgia and lived with his grandparents while his father served in World War II and his mother worked in a munitions plant.
He then followed his dad on military moves to Yuma, Arizona; Alexandria, Virginia; and Salzburg, Austria. He graduated from Salzburg Military High School in Austria in 1955.
After high school, Mack returned to the United States, completed enlisted military training at Fort Stewart, Georgia, and settled in North Carolina where he was a member of the National Guard.
He decided to visit his parents who by then were stationed at Fort Hood. Since he had at times been employed by the Army and Air Force Exchange Service, he decided to apply for jobs with AAFES at Fort Hood. He was successful in his job pursuit and was hired as a retail manager.
Shortly thereafter, he met Aleta Rae Oswalt, and they were married in November 1965.
Mack was transferred to Bangkok, Thailand, and the couple spent two years there during the Vietnam War. Upon returning to the U.S., Mack was assigned to Fort Ord, California. He was challenged with overseeing final construction and opening of a new facility.
Next, he was transferred to Colorado Springs, Colorado with duty assignments at Ent AFB, Peterson Field and the U.S. Air Force Academy. Mack helped close Ent AFB, expand Peterson Field, and built a new facility at the Air Force Academy as owner representative/project manager. He truly enjoyed this assignment, working with the upper ranks of the Air Force and the new Academy cadets. Before this four-yearplus tour was over, his only child, Brian Keith Carroll, would be born in July 1976.
Shortly after Brian’s birth, Mack was transferred to Misawa AFB, in far northern Japan on an unaccompanied duty assignment.
His next assignment was stateside in Clovis, New Mexico at Cannon AFB.
In 1981, he completed the assignment at Cannon AFB and was transferred to Bergstrom AFB in Austin, Texas. In 1984, he was transferred again, this time to Fort Bliss in El Paso.
Mack was handpicked to be responsible for all retail operations in the central Pacific and was transferred in 1988 to Honolulu, Hawaii. He accomplished a number of firsts in AAFES history in his role there as area retail manager.
Reaching his retirement goal, Mack retired on Jan. 31, 1991, and settled in Lampasas County where his son entered and graduated from high school.
Mack was a member of the Masonic Lodge, Scottish Rite, Shriners and First United Methodist Church. He enjoyed woodworking and shooting sports with his son. He received the Masonic Golden Trowel and 50-year service awards. He also was a CASA volunteer.
Mack was preceded in death by his father, Sgt. John William Carroll, and his mother, Maxine Plummer Carroll, who are interred in Arlington National Cemetery; and his stepmother, Virginia Carroll, who is interred in Alexandria, Virginia.
Mack is survived by his former spouse, Aleta Rae Carroll of Killeen; his son, Brian K. (Laura) Carroll of Belton; his sister, Linda (Gary) Seay of Waynesville, Missouri; grandchildren Creighton James Carroll and Cannon David Carroll; and by nieces, nephews and other relatives.
Memorial donations may be made to the Shriners Children’s Hospitals, Lampasas Methodist Church, or to CASA for the Highland Lakes.
