Carole Louise (Hill) Gassaway

Carole Louise (Hill) Gassaway, 83, died at home on Sunday, November 23, 2025, with her family by her side. Carole was born in Marshalltown, Iowa, on January 10, 1942, to Louise and Richard Hill. She lived in Tama as a child and in Des Moines most of her life, spending more than 50 years in her home in the Oak Park neighborhood.

Carole was a proud graduate of the North High School Class of 1960 and was involved in planning many reunions for the class. She attended Brown Institute of Broadcasting in Minneapolis after graduation and worked at radio stations in Clinton and Keokuk before returning to Des Moines and working at WHO-TV. She later spent four decades in Des Moines radio and was among the first women in the state to have her own rock ‘n’ roll radio show. She was proud to have worked at KMGK, KDWZ, and KIOA radio. She retired in 1991 to become a full-time grandma, which led her to attend clown school at the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse and start a home daycare, which her child care families helped dub Carole Camp. She continued as a child care provider for more than 20 years and as Cola the Clown for more than 30 years.

Carole loved all family events and never missed attending her daughters’ and granddaughters’ school, sports and extra-curricular functions. She also loved large gatherings, and a highlight for her was hosting annual Halloween and Christmas parties in her home that often drew up to 100 people.

Carole was a former Blue Bird and Camp Fire leader and PTA president and a member of many groups, including Korn Patch Klowns and the Red Hat Society groups Garnet Gadabouts and Red Hot Grannies. She had been a member of Sheridan Park United Methodist Church and was featured in the book Iowa Women at Work for broadcasting.

Her survivors, all of Des Moines, include daughters Melissa Myers and Lisa Hickcox; granddaughters Jessi Myers (Dakota Garnes) and Lindsey Myers (Tristan Mouzakis); great-grandson, Colby Garnes; and her brother, Ron Hill, along with her sister-in-law Mary Millard and several nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her husband of 46 years, Robert; her parents; and her sister-in-law, Janet Schwarz.

The family will visit with friends from 5 to 8 p.m. Monday, December 1, at Hamilton’s near Highland Memory Gardens Funeral Home, with a funeral service there at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, December 2, followed by burial at Highland Memory Gardens Cemetery.

The family would like to thank the staff at UnityPoint Hospice for their exceptional home care guidance and support of Carole and her family.

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