PRESIDIO OF MONTEREY, Calif. Aca,!A? Carolyn Lydia Pryor, long-time community member as well as manager and bookkeeper of the Presidio Thrift Shop at Ord Military Community, died unexpectedly of a heart attack on July 18, three days after her 82nd birthday, co-workers have reported.
In accordance with Pryor's wishes, memorial services were not held and her remains were cremated.
She was born July 15, 1928, in San Francisco's Mission District and attended San Francisco City College. Associates recalled that she was widowed in the 1970s and had no immediate family. She had been a resident of Del Rey Oaks, Calif., for several years.
"We enjoyed working with her," said Dottie Darvey, who began volunteer service at the thrift shop in 1980. "Losing her is very difficult."
Associates said Pryor began working at the thrift shop in the 1960s when it served Fort Ord. Until its closure in 1994, the installation was one of the Army's bustling basic training facilities and home of the Army's 7th Infantry Division. Associates recalled that, when Fort Ord closed, Pryor had risen to the position of shop manager. They credited her with guiding the shop's transition to a valued OMC institution that was frequented by the general public as well as by members of service families and retirees. The shop's profits were ploughed back into the community in the form of scholarship awards to deserving students.
Scholarship recipients were members of the local military community who were chosen for their academic accomplishments and financial need.
The most recent ceremony was at the shop in May in which six students received scholarship awards. During that informal ceremony, Pryor noted that the thrift shop had awarded about $200,000 in scholarships over the past 25 years.
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