First Lady of Perry County Courthouse Carol Stout Retires
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA["It's bittersweet," says Carol Stout of her retirement from the Perry County Circuit Clerk's office. Stout's last day is Friday, which will be celebrated with an open house from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Courthouse.
Though she is sad to be leaving friends and co-workers, Stout is looking forward to moving to Texas to be closer to three of her four grandchildren. She's wasting no time; her plane leaves Saturday.
Her new home will be just north of Austin in Cedar Park, Texas. Daughter Angela Collins and one grandchild live in Austin. Angela's husband is in the process of relocating from England to Texas. He expects to be a permanent U.S. resident in June. Son, Joseph Giglotto, his wife Christy and two grandchildren live in San Antonio. Her youngest son, Scott Stout and his wife Jamie and her eldest grandchild live in Carbondale. Those three and a large extended family supply plenty of reasons for return trips to southern Illinois.
Stout has spent the past 24 years at the Circuit Clerk's office, handling criminal and civil cases, administrative orders and juvenile cases in that time. She served under Bob Heisner, Nick Dolce, Danny Wildermuth and long-time friend Kim Kellerman.
During her tenure in the Circuit Clerk's office, stout has clerked for three judges: Bastien, Gandy and Campanella.
"The word indispensible comes to mind. They say no one is indispensible, but I am sure I'll be questioning that old cliche shortly," Circuit Judge Jim Campanella said of Stout. "I have no idea how we'll replace her."
Stout has trained a temporary employee to fill her shoes in the short term.
Circuit Clerk Kim Kellerman said "Carol's work ethic is beyond impeccable. Her dedication to her job, family and friends and to Perry County is admirable. All who have worked with Carol and all the lives that Carol has touched will truly miss her."
Just five minutes in the company of of Kellerman and Stout demonstrates the sincerity of that statement. Smiles break through the tears as the friends contemplate Stout's new direction in life.
When asked what she plans to do with all of her free time, Stout replied "I don't know, but I'm looking forward to wasting it."
Not all of her time will be wasted. She plans to spend a lot of it with her three youngest grandchildren, ages 4, 4 and 2.
"They grow so fast," she said. "I get to see them every once in a while and they have changed so much from one visit to the next."
Stout won't miss getting up at 5 a.m. or dealing with violent inmates. She recalled nearly getting hit by an angry inmate's chains once while helping him fill out an affidavit.
She will miss her co-workers.
"The girls are like family," she said.