Obituary of Carnetta Marquette

Carnetta Yvonne Scroggin Marquette passed on Friday, January 1, 2021 in Lexington, Kentucky, at age 93.   She was predeceased by her husband John C. B. “Brack” Marquette (1925-1971).  They were married in their hometown of Williamstown, Kentucky, on August 3, 1947.  

Carnetta was born in Cordova, Grant County, Kentucky, on November 10, 1927, to Perry and Ethel Poe Scroggin.  Her grandparents were Steve and Anna Keightley Poe and Robert Lee and Isabell Perkins Scroggin of Holbrook.  Her ancestors, some arriving on the Mayflower, had been in America and Kentucky from the earliest times.  She was raised in the Mason and Corinth communities before moving to Williamstown in 1932 when Perry was elected Grant County jailer.  She graduated from Williamstown High School in 1945.  Her marriage to Brack brought her into the abundant family of L.R. and Mary Lee Gulick Marquette.  Her adult life was one of devoted service to her family, the community and her church family at Williamstown Baptist, Georgetown Baptist, and Calvary Baptist, Lexington.  In 1974 she became House Director and Assistant Student Center Director at Georgetown College after her years of service in the office of Dr. Clay C. Parks of Dry Ridge.   While at Georgetown College for 20 years she was “Mom Marquette” to hundreds of students at the Phi Mu Sorority, President’s House Association, and Flowers Hall.  She was also one of the first employees of the Kentucky Horse Park where she worked in the summers at the Welcome Center and, after retiring from the College, continued full-time in the Business Office until her retirement in 1998.   Deeply spiritual and committed to those in need, Carnetta’s instinct for counseling, empathy, and loyal friendship were important all who valued her ability to listen, advise, and pray.    Her determination to overcome setbacks, disappointments and obstacles, and keen sense of humor, often self-deprecating, were her hallmarks throughout life.  There was never a challenge she faced that she did not look around at the greater burdens of others and determine she was truly blessed and could carry on.  

She is survived by her son John C. B. “Brack” Marquette and grandsons Miles Breckinridge Marquette and Brooks Henslee Marquette of Lexington;  devoted nieces Ann Hulett Scroggin (Jim) Sexton of Mason, Ohio, Virginia Calvert Scroggin Sadrzadeh of Lexington, Mary Jean Scroggin (David) Harris of Boulder, Colorado, and Carnetta Jean Burroughs Bell of Whispering Pines, North Carolina and their families;  and sisters-in law Laura Frances Marquette Wagers, Lebanon, Ohio, and Patsy Sue Marquette Henderson, Union, Kentucky.   She was also predeceased by sisters Elvena Scroggin (1923-1930) and Wilma Corrine Scroggin Burroughs (1917-2006) and brother-in-law M. H. Burroughs (1918-2013), and brothers Harold (1914-1914) and Eugene Wayne Scroggin (1933-2020) and sister-in-law Barbara Ann Hulett Scroggin (1932-2008).  She is also survived by the generational Poe and Scroggin families and by marriage to the family of L. R. and Mary Lee Gulick Marquette and their deceased children Pauline Marquette (Adam) Juett, Ada Louise Marquette (Howard) Lowe, Richard (Dorothy Elmo) Marquette, Mary Lena Marquette (Charles) Estridge, Louis Jr. (Wanda) Marquette, James Wagers, and Lawson G. Henderson.  

Services will be private at the convenience of the family and interment will be in the Williamstown Cemetery.  Memorial donations may be made to benefit Mission Health Lexington Free Dental Clinic, c/o P O Box 25161, Lexington, Ky 40524.  The family is deeply grateful to the staff and residents of Ashland Terrace Independent Living Center and Morning Pointe Assisted Living Center in Lexington, and to their Poe family cousins at Chambers & Grubbs Funeral Home, Independence, Kentucky, for handling arrangements.