Carol Ann Hacker, 77, departed these earthly bounds on Friday, November 14, 2025. A devoted and loving mother, grandmother, wife, sister, and Presbyterian church deacon, she is survived by her three sons, Michael, Brian, and Patrick; sister Peg; and grandchildren Lindsay, Hadley, Danielle, and Matthew.

Carol was born on October 12, 1948, in Detroit, Michigan, to Geneva and Stanley Patterson. She was the first, by a minute or two, of four children, immediately followed by her twin sister and best friend, Peggy. It's hard to talk about Carol apart from Peggy as they were inseparable—two sides of the same coin.

Carol grew up in a bungalow on the northwest side of Detroit, sharing a converted attic bedroom with Peg. In 1957, Stan built a cottage in Lake City, and henceforth, Ginny and the kids would spend the entire summer on the lake while Stan, who worked as an engineer in Detroit, would come up every weekend. High school summers were spent swimming and water skiing on Lake Missaukee.

Carol was a graduate of Henry Ford High School and Western Michigan University. After college, she took a teaching position on the east side of the state. Shortly thereafter, she met Jim Hacker, who wooed her with French poetry and love letters and won her heart. They married in the summer of 1973 and settled in Mt. Clemens, where she lived for more than 40 years.

Three children soon followed, and Carol's teaching career was temporarily set aside as she devoted herself to supporting Jim's career and raising three boys—hosting every Cub Scout meeting, cheering her boys on at soccer, football, and wrestling, and running the Bathers' concession stand at basketball games. She returned to the classroom at Mt. Clemens High School in 1996, all the while managing the whims of four outspoken Hacker men.

Books were central to Carol's life. She was a voracious reader from a young age and a fixture at the Mt. Clemens Public Library, where she volunteered. She was known to regularly check out massive stacks of books for her and her family to devour. She read widely—classics and contemporary works, mostly fiction—and was particularly fond of spy novels, thrillers (Lee Child's Jack Reacher was a favorite), fantasy, and romance. There was never a time when she didn't have a book in her hand or her handbag.

Games and puzzles were also hobbies that consumed Carol's free time and brought her much enjoyment. She was a masterful crossword puzzler and loved to collaborate with Peg on the Free Press's Sunday quote-acrostic. Carol was a competitive card player—euchre, cribbage, pinochle, hearts, gin, rummy—you name the game, she could deal it. But where she truly excelled was at contract bridge.

She and Jim spent the early 2000s traveling the country on the competitive bridge circuit. In 2003, Carol and Jim were awarded the title of "Life Master" from the American Contract Bridge League, a hard-won triumph of endurance and perseverance from those many weekend tournaments. When she moved to Dearborn in 2018, she continued her love for (and dominance of) the card table with her new friends at Henry Ford Village.

Carol was renowned as a gracious host and entertainer. Although she was an excellent cook, she let Jim and his chaos rule the kitchen on weekends and for special occasions. The holiday season was a grand production for extended family and friends, with Carol hosting everyone around her table. Their Boxing Day brunches were festive, boisterous, all-day affairs filled with riotous laughter, holiday cheer, and Carol's infectious joy.

Carol's kindness and generosity reached new heights with the arrival of four grandchildren, whom she spoiled, doted on, and bragged about relentlessly. Quite inadvertently, she became known as "Gam Gam" and would get down on the floor to play and roll around with her toddlers. As they grew, she was deeply involved in their lives as a cheerleader, companion, and champion.

Throughout her life, she explored Michigan's outdoors, enjoying camping trips at state parks with her young family, autumn's color change, the Mackinac Bridge walk, and the solitude of a friend's cabin in the Upper Peninsula near Tahquamenon Falls. To escape the winter blues, Carol would join Peg and Don on Anna Maria Island, Florida, every February for fun and fellowship under the sun. She was also a prolific member of a "heavy metal band," ringing hand bells at churches in Mt. Clemens and Dearborn. Carol lived a full and happy life, and she will be deeply missed by all who were fortunate enough to have known her.

She was predeceased by her husband, soulmate, and bridge partner of 33 years, James Hacker; her parents Stanley and Geneva Patterson; and younger brothers Robert and Richard.

The family will hold a visitation at 11:00 a.m. on Friday, December 5, followed by a celebration of life at 1:00 p.m. at Will & Schwarzkoff Funeral Home, 233 N. Gratiot Ave., Mt. Clemens. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Mt. Clemens Public Library.