Joel Russell Carroll

JOEL RUSSELL CARROLL

February 8, 1973 – June 20, 2024

“Twilight is upon me, and soon night must fall.

That is the way of things.”

-Yoda to Luke Skywalker

Joel Russell Carroll, “Jody,” eldest son of Joel William Carroll and Pat Hall Drolet, departed this world for his own Star Trek journey into the afterlife on June 20, 2024. He was born February 8, 1973, the first of two sons.

It was clear early in life that Joel, Jody to his early friends and family, would be a professional somewhere in the world of art and entertainment media. He graduated from South Caldwell High in 1991, where he impressed friends and community with his highly developed art and theater performances. Soon he was attending Ringling School of Art in Sarasota, FL, and graduated in 1996 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in illustration.

Jody taught Art for Caldwell County Schools for a year before returning to Florida, this time to Orlando, for a career stint as a game designer with n-Space, Inc. He was soon leading teams in developing game concepts and eventually became Lead Concept Designer and Environment Design Specialist. Gamers will appreciate the fact that he was team lead for such classics as “Die Hard Trilogy 2,” “Viva Las Vegas” (PS2), “Danger Girl,” multiple “Rugrats” and “Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen” games, and Geist GameCube. After a few years in game development, Jody turned his creative skills toward Education again, this time as a college teacher at Full Sail University in Winter Park, FL, a renowned, cutting-edge college where creative minds use art, graphic design, and software to combine with industry connections in a faster-paced “real” curriculum that shapes the worlds of entertainment media and emerging technologies. Jody had spent his life preparing for this venture and quickly became leader of the university’s game development “Final Project” experience, where he led teams of emerging artists and engineers through stages of asset creation, including 3-D modeling, texturing, rigging, and animation. These projects resulted in actual game products students used to enter the gaming career world. After 10 years shaping next generation artists at Full Sail, Jody became a freelance, independent consultant, where he combined his roles as illustrator, story contributor, writer, penciler, and inker into projects requested by various companies, such as Dynamic Comics, Flight Comics, and Topps Trading Cards. At this expert level of artistic creativity, he found highly specialized work requiring his master set of skills, leading to such illustrated card series as “Upper Deck – Marvel Masterpiece II & III” and “Star Wars Illustrated Empire Strikes Back.” Meanwhile, over 40+ years, he capitalized on his collections knowledge, assembling an enviable set of Star Wars figures, comic books, and other illustration treasures that continually fueled his love of the creative arts. In fact, he was known across the country for both his Star Wars knowledge and figures collection by fellow aficionados.

Joel Russell’s parents convinced him to return home to Hudson a year ago, since his freelance work was not restricted by geography. Always modest and unassuming, he could be found at his home on Main Street either playing games, creating them, or endlessly drawing, being overseen by his cat Spooky. In fact, Jody was happiest with Spooky by his side, drawing pad in hand, or sitting in front of the computer manipulating complex software to assist him in a design process.

Jody – Joel Russell – leaves behind his parents, Joel William Carroll (Kathy) of Hudson and Pat Hall Drolet of Hickory; one brother, Ryan Patrick Carroll (Emily) and one niece, Zoey Tegan Carroll of Hickory; four aunts, Revonda Bowman and Susan Molesa of Taylorsville, Kathy Elizabeth Kim of Hickory, NC, and Dryna Bly Rains (Eddie) of Atlanta, GA; two uncles, George Davis Carroll (Linda) of Hudson and Ricky Hall of Lincolnton; a hoard of cousins; and many artistic friends, including lifelong friend, Eric Stafford of Lenoir.

Evans Funeral Home is serving the family. There is no receiving or public service planned at this time. Memorials to honor Jody’s life may be made to Robin’s Nest Children’s Advocacy Center, P.O. Box 646, Lenoir, NC 28645 or to Burgess Chapel Unity Center, P.O. Box 677, Granite Falls, NC, 28630. Both organizations will notify Joel Russell’s parents of the memorial gift.

“Those we love are never truly gone.”

- The Jedi Master to Luke Skywalker