"What is in the water in this town? Every time I turn around, I'm getting screwed." - Carolyn Strickland
Carolyn Strickland is the Manager at the Ashford Falls State Bank in Ashford Falls, New York. Although not a native of town, she is a descendant of the Hood Family, who once lived in Ashford Falls.
Born in Troy, New York in 1945, Carolyn was raised in an opulent neighborhood in Albany before a series of financial disasters depleted her family fortune. As a result, she and her brother were sent to live in Ashford Falls in the Fifties with relatives. With the family fortune erased, her father eventually began working as a contractor for Lincoln Hedison, and her mother was once the assistant manager at the Ashford Falls Movie House. She once had a trust fund in her name, but it was seized by the bank over the string of bankruptcies in her family.
During early Sixties, Carolyn attended Ashford Falls High School where she became friends with Lisa Caldwell and Dorothy Pierce. She found happiness and success as a participant in local beauty contests around Ashford Falls, often traveling to New York City in state pageants where she had aspirations of being an actress that went unfulfilled. After getting married, she encouraged her daughter Samantha Strickland into the beauty pageantry.
Following high school, Carolyn worked at Irene's Restaurant to pay for her classes at Ashford Falls Christian Normal and her brother, David, gained employment at the Ashford Falls Fire Department. After the restaurant closed, she took a job as a teller at Ashford Falls State Bank where she attracted the attention of Naomi Hedison. Naomi helped Carolyn to pay off her debts and find an affordable home for her children in town. With the death of her husband in 1975, Carolyn was matched up several times by Naomi with her son, Bradley Larabee, but a romance never occurred.
By 1986, Carolyn had become Assistant Manager to bank manager Ted Mocherie, and with his retirement, she was certain to get the promotion to his position. Unfortunately, the position instead went to Robert Dunn, the son of one of the bank directors. Inexperienced and often distracted with frivolous pursuits, Dunn kept Carolyn around to do the job he wasn't prepared to do, signing off on her decisions. In his absence, Carolyn worked often with Nathan Featherstone, Carter Hedison and Dr. Albert Waverly, three of the bank's largest clients.
Carolyn in 1995
By 1995, Carolyn had successfully replaced Dunn as manager of the bank. The exact circumstances of this turnover is unrevealed, but it may have something to do with the lack of funds and misconduct reported in 1990. When Mayor Sabrina Collins was seeking a location for the town's executive mansion, Carolyn revealed to her the old Hathaway Mansion and the prospect of seeing it restored.