Petrea Carolyn Piel

Petrea Carolyn Piel, long-time resident of Lake Charles, passed away on November 15, 2025, after a courageous, year-long battle with cancer. She was born December 14, 1935 to Ernest C. Piel and Magdalene P. Miller Piel in Lake Charles. She was preceded in death by her beloved parents and one sister, Marcia Piel Gardiner. She is survived by her sons, Harrison William (Bill) Jordan (wife, Hein) and Marc Kevin Jordan (wife, Laura); grandchildren, James Nguyen and Natalie Nguyen, and beloved first cousins, Laurine (Elkins) Marlow (husband William) and Eleanor Elkins, as well as numerous second and third cousins, many of whom also live in the Lake Charles area.

Carolyn earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from McNeese State College where her studies were wide-ranging and thorough, under the guidance of Noel Daste. Focusing on sculpture, she continued her art studies at Louisiana State University, pursuing a Master’s degree under the guidance of Armin Scheler.

She was a member of the Alpha Delta Pi sorority.

Carolyn married Harrison K. Jordan in 1960 and briefly settled in Lake Charles while her husband continued to serve in the U.S. Air Force at Chennault Air Base. During this time, she taught art classes at LaGrange High School and worked summers as a drafter at D.W. Jessen and Associates, a job she started while attending McNeese.

She moved with her husband to Beaumont, Texas in 1962. After giving birth to her first child, Carolyn became a full-time mother and homemaker, but she still found time to pursue her art. Over time, her inquiring mind led her to proficiency in jewelry-making, aniline dye fabric and terra cotta art, intaglio and screen printing. She custom-built a home studio in Beaumont.

In the early 1980s, after her boys had finished high school, Carolyn moved back to Lake Charles and continued producing art. She designed and built a home that included a studio with a kiln and screen print presses. She was a member of Art Associates of Lake Charles.

For many years she worked for Meyer Associates, drafting a number of civic and commercial projects.

Baptized and confirmed at St. John’s Lutheran Church, Carolyn’s was one of the founding families of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church. In Beaumont, she was a member of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church. After her return to Lake Charles, she was a member of St Michael’s and All Angels Church for many years, serving in the altar guild.

Carolyn was a voracious reader whose extensive book collection contained everything from scholarly works about ancient civilizations and anthropology to current politics.

Carolyn loved gardening and could make almost anything grow. She was a font of information on local trees and plants, and loved to share knowledge (and cuttings!) with other enthusiasts, especially the friends she made at Prien Pines Nursery. She joined earlier generations and extended members of the family in forming such strong attachments to specific plants that they would keep track of where “offspring” of favorite plants from the “old farm” or “Grandma Jergy’s old house” were located around town.

During the 80s and 90s, Carolyn and her mother became such enthusiastic bird watchers, they enrolled at McNeese to take an ornithology course, and they loved learning how to landscape their yards to provide welcoming habitats for the birds they had learned about.

There will be visitation, beginning at 11:00 a.m., and a funeral service at 2:00 p.m., Wednesday, November 26, 2025 at Johnson Funeral Home, 4321 Lake Street, Lake Charles, Louisiana, with interment immediately following at Orange Grove - Graceland Cemetery, 2023 Broad Street, Lake Charles, Louisiana.

Words of comfort to the family may be expressed at www.johnsonfuneralhome.net.