CAROLYN MAE PERKINS CUMMINS

Carolyn Mae Perkins Cummins passed away peacefully at her home in Clintwood on June 13, 2026, comforted by two of her daughters, Catherine and Carol. Throughout her ninety-seven-year journey, beyond her love for her family, Carolyn touched many lives with her kindness and care and will be fondly remembered by those she positively impacted.
Carolyn was born in Clintwood on November 26, 1928. She was preceded in death by her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Charles S. Perkins; her husband, Ralph E. Cummins; and two of her children, Charles and Cheryl Cummins.
She attended Milligan University, where she met her future husband, before transferring to Duke University, graduating in 1951 with a degree in Graduate Nursing. In 1972, she also completed a Bachelor of Science degree from Milligan.
Carolyn worked briefly in a hospital in Norton but, except for a few years teaching nursing at the Dickenson County Vocational School, she spent most of her career as a Public Health Nurse in Dickenson County.
She retired in 1990 and spent many of her retirement years traveling with her husband, Ralph. They met their lifelong goal of visiting each of the lower forty-eight states and enjoyed one trip to Europe, visiting Germany, where Ralph had served during World War II many years earlier. Together, they spent half of their time in Clintwood and half in a second home in Sun Lake, Florida.
During her lifetime, Carolyn enjoyed many hobbies and interests. She was a gifted seamstress and routinely crafted clothing for her family, including a beautiful, beaded wedding gown. She was an exceptional cook and will be dearly remembered for her amazing angel biscuits and sausage gravy. She will also be remembered with great fondness by the many patient families she cared for throughout her years as a Public Health Nurse.
Carolyn and her family have been members of the Clintwood United Methodist Church for most of her life, and she has been very active in many church functions.
Among Carolyn’s survivors are daughters Catherine Cummins, Carol Cummins Morley (Emmett), Claudia Cummins Knapp (Allen), and Cecilia Cummins Lasyone (Mark), and one son, Christopher Cummins (Mary Anne). She is also survived by seventeen grandchildren and twelve great-grandchildren.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to one of the family scholarships at UVA Wise, specifically the Charles and Celestine Perkins Scholarship or the Ralph and Carolyn Cummins Scholarship.
In the meantime, the family appreciates the many friends who have reached out with expressions of sympathy. Those thoughts and prayers are enormously helpful as we grieve the loss of our mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. However, the family respectfully requests that no flowers or food be sent to the home.
The family will receive friends on Monday, July 6th, from 1 p.m. until 2 p.m., with a celebration of life service to begin at 2 p.m. in the Mullins Funeral Home Chapel, with clergy Shane Wallace officiating. Online condolences may be made at www.mullinsfuneralhome.net.
Mullins Funeral Home and staff are serving the Cummins family.