Carmen Hooker Odom

Carmen Hooker Odom
Secretary of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services
In office
January 2001 – May 2007
GovernorMike Easley
Preceded byH. David Bruton
Succeeded byDempsey Benton
Personal details
BornCarmen Anne DeFrates
(1945-02-03) February 3, 1945
New Brunswick, New Jersey
Spouse(s)Lawrence Highland Buell[1]
(m. 1966; div. 1989)
Michael Hooker
(m. 1993; died 1999)
T. L. "Fountain" Odom
(m. 2002; died 2023)
Children2
EducationLower Merion High School
Springfield College
UMass Amherst

Carmen Hooker Odom (born Carmen Anne DeFrates;[1] February 3, 1945[2]), previously known as Carmen Buell,[3][4] Carmen D. Buell, and Carmen Hooker Buell,[5][6] is the former secretary of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. Governor Mike Easley appointed her Secretary in January 2001. Odom, a former Massachusetts legislator and health care lobbyist, has spent her professional life working in health and human services. As a lawmaker, she was the primary legislative author of both the 1991 Massachusetts comprehensive health reform legislation and the Children's Medical Security Plan, which targeted young children not covered by medical insurance.

Early life and career

Born in New Brunswick, New Jersey and raised in suburban Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,[2] Hooker Odom is one of two children born to Carmen (née Ingersoll) and Dr. Joseph DeFrates.[7] She attended Lower Merion High School in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, and Springfield College in Massachusetts.[8] Graduating in 1966 with a bachelor's degree in sociology and political science, Odom would receive her master's degree in regional planning from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 1984.[6]

With the groundwork thus laid, Mrs. Buell's career in public service began in earnest the following year with her election to the first of six consecutive two-year terms in the Massachusetts House of Representatives,[9] the final three of which were spent as Chair of the House Health Care Committee.[10][11]

Prior to her appointment as head of the large state bureaucracy, she served as Vice President of Government Relations for Quintiles Transnational Corporation in Research Triangle Park. Odom served as the Group Vice President for Carolinas Healthcare System, now Atrium Health. She is also an adjunct professor at the UNC School of Public Health.[12]

In May 2007, Hooker Odom announced that she would resign as Secretary to become president of the Milbank Memorial Fund.[13] In March 2013 she stepped down as President of the fund, she then became advisor to the President. She served in that role from March 2013 to 2014. She is now a self employed independent consultant.[14]

Personal life

On June 25, 1966, almost directly on the heels of their graduation from Springfield College, Carmen Anne LeFrates and Lawrence Highland Buell—simultaneously fellow alumni and fellow honorees in that year's Who's Who in American Colleges and Universities—were married at a small, friends-and-family-members-only ceremony conducted at The Narberth Methodist Church in Narberth, Pennsylvania.[15][8] Ending via divorce in 1989, the marriage produced two children (in 1967 and 1971, respectively), both girls.[2]

Buell's December 1993 marriage to University of Massachusetts President Michael Hooker marked the culmination of a courtship that had begun that January when the couple first met at a UMass basketball game. The ceremony, conducted at Leyden's United Methodist Church, was, in Hooker's words, "very unconventional" and featured a rendition of "Greensleeves", as given by his then 12-year-old daughter, Alex.[16] In 1995, Hooker Buell accompanied her husband to North Carolina when he was named Chancellor of that state's Chapel Hill-hosted flagship school.

In 1999, the one-time divorcée became a widow when Hooker, aged 53, died following a 6-month-long battle with non-Hodgkins lymphoma.[17]

The seed was planted for marriage number three in January 2001, when, while attending the inauguration of North Carolina governor Mike Easley, Hooker Buell encountered an old, primarily work-related acquaintance, former state senator T. L. "Fountain" Odom. The relationship grew tentatively at first, with the attraction somewhat one-sided, as Odom himself later acknowledged. But eventually she did, as he put it, "get used to the idea" and so, on January 19, 2002, the former Carmen DeFrates finally acquired the name, Carmen Hooker Odom, by which she has since become best known.[18]

On November 28, 2023, Hooker Odom was widowed once again when her husband, aged 85, "passed away peacefully [...] after a lengthy illness". As of that date, both Hooker Odom and each of her two daughters continued to reside in North Carolina, albeit each in a different city.[19]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Engaged". Athol Daily News. November 2, 1965. p. 3. Retrieved May 27, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. 1 2 3 Stobbe, Mike (November 2, 1965). "In first year on job, HHS secretary seen as a rock in a hard place (Odom from 1E)". Athol Daily News. p. 2E. Retrieved May 28, 2026 – via Newspapers.com. Carmen DeFrates was born Feb. 3, 1945, in New Brunswick, N.J., and grew up in suburban Philadelphia. Her parents were both influential. [...] 'It was instilled in me very early that one always gives back to the community,' Cooper Odom said.
  3. ↑ "Political Notebook: Buell backs Andrews in bid for 2nd Franklin District House seat". The Recorder. October 2, 2010. p. C1. Retrieved May 29, 2026 – via Newspapers.com. Second Franklin District House candidate Denise Andrews of Orange has won the endorsement of another woman who represented the sixtown district from 1985 to 1995 - Carmen Buell, now Carmen Hooker Odom. The former Greenfield Democrat who moved to North Carolina and served as state secretary of health and human services there before becoming president of Milbank Memorial Fund, recalls watching Andrews playing field hockey at Mahar Regional School when Buell was a coach.
  4. ↑ "Letter to the Editor: Supports Andrews". Athol Daily News. October 1, 2010. p. 3. Retrieved May 29, 2026 – via Newspapers.com. Voters in the Second Franklin District have an opportunity on Nov. 2 to send someone to Boston who will work hard on their behalf to solve problems and have their voices heard.

    I urge you all to vote for Denise Andrews.

    Carmen Hooker Odom
    (Carmen Buell,
    State Representative
    Second Franklin District, 1985-1995)
  5. ↑ Powell, Dannye Romine (June 10, 1995). "Rolled to graduation on a gurney; What's in a name?". The Charlotte Observer. p. 3. Retrieved May 28, 2026 – via Newspapers.com. I got curious about the name of Carmen Hooker Buell, wife of the new UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor Michael Hooker. According to UNC spokesperson Clifton Metcalf, Buell was elected to the Massachusetts House in 1984 as Carmen Buell. Buell was her first husband's name. In 1993, she married Hooker. She hated to confuse voters, so she kept Buell as a surname and put Hooker in the middle. In Chapel Hill, she plans to be Carmen Hooker.
  6. 1 2 Amy Gardner (June 9, 2001). "Hooker Buell a vocal, visible part of Easley Cabinet". The News and Observer. p. 1. Retrieved May 28, 2026 – via Newspapers.com. EDUCATION: Bachelor's degree in sociology and political science, Springfield College, Springfield, Mass. in 1966; master's degree in regional planning, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, 1984.
  7. ↑ "Deaths: Carmen DeFrates, 80, was mother of state Rep. Carmen D. Buell". The Recorder. July 20, 1988. p. 3. Retrieved May 28, 2026 – via Newspapers.com. NARBERTH, Pa. - Carmen (Ingersoll) DeFrates, 80, of 131 Chestnut Ave., died Monday (7-18-88) in Bryn Mawr Hospital in Bryn Mawr. She was married to Joseph DeFrates in 1940. Survivors include her husband, Joseph DeFrates, a daughter, state Rep. Carmen D. Buell of Greenfield, and six grandchildren. A son, Joseph W., died in 1986.
  8. 1 2 "Buell – DeFrates". The News and Observer. June 9, 2001. p. 2. Retrieved May 28, 2026 – via Newspapers.com. Miss Carmen Anne DeFrates, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph S. DeFrates of 131 Chestnut avenue, Narberth, Pa. became the bride of Lawrence H. Buell, son of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Buell of Petersham, today in the Narberth Methodist Church [...] The couple will live at Friends Academy, Duck Pond road, Locust Valley, N.Y. The bride graduated from Lower Merion High School in Ardmore, Pa., and Springfield College with a B.S. She is going to be an elementary teacher and girl's athletic coach. Buell [...] is going to be a history teacher and coach at Friend's Academy.
  9. ↑ Stobbe, op. cit., p. 2E. "She spent 11 years in the Massachusetts legislature, [eventually] chairing the House Health Care Committee."
  10. ↑ Greenberg, David (January 20, 1991). "Universal health care plan tops Buell agenda". The Republican. p. A18. Retrieved May 29, 2026 – via Newspapers.com. Providing universal health care for Massachusetts residents and establishing new payment rates for hospitals top this year's agenda for state Rep. Carmen D. Buell. House Speaker Charles Flaherty this week appointed Buell chairman of the House Health Care Committee. Buell, a Democrat who represents the 2nd Franklin District, assumes her new leadership post under less than auspicious financial times. With a fiscal 1991 budget deficit between $500 million and $800 million, legislators face the inevitability of making cuts merely to maintain status quo. Yet, Buell vowed to push for health insurance for all Massachusetts residents with an affordable system that shares the financial responsibility
  11. ↑ Associated Press (May 20, 1995). "Hooker gets vote to pursue his 'dream of a lifetime' as chancellor of UNC-CH". The Daily Dispatch. p. 5B. Retrieved May 29, 2026 – via Newspapers.com. Hooker's wife, Carmen Hooker Buell, is a member of the Massachusetts legislature and chairs its health care committee. She said she would move to North Carolina and probably look for a job in the health care field.
  12. ↑ Health, Department of Public. "DPH: Carmen Hooker Odom". www.ct.gov. Archived from the original on March 9, 2018. Retrieved 2017-05-04.
  13. ↑ Associated Press (June 9, 2001). "Hooker Odom to leave health department". Rocky Mount Telegram. p. 3A. Retrieved May 29, 2026 – via Newspapers.com. The state's top health official announced Friday she will step down from her public post and become president of a New York-based health research foundation. [...] Hooker Odom, 62, said she will step down Aug. 24 and join the Milbank Memorial Fund in October. Her departure marks just the second state Cabinet member to leave since Easley became Governor in 2001.
  14. ↑ "Carmen Hooker Odom". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2017-05-04.
  15. ↑ "Buell Listed in Colleges' 'Who's Who'". Athol Daily News. May 3, 1966. p. 4. Retrieved May 29, 2026 – via Newspapers.com. Larry Buell, son of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Buell of Oliver Street, Petersham, is among new selections to 'Who's Who in American Colleges and Universities.' His fiance, Miss Carmen DeFrates, daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Joseph DeFrates of Narberth, Pa., has been similarly honored. [...] Larry and Carmen, who will be married June 25, are seniors at Springfield College. [...] In September, the couple will nboth be on the faculty of Friends Academy on Long Island
  16. ↑ "UMass president, Rep. Buell marry in private ceremony". The Republican. December 19, 1993. p. A-19. Retrieved May 29, 2026 – via Newspapers.com. Hooker and Buell, D-Greenfield, who met at a UMass basketball game, were married before about 20 family members and friends at Leyden United Methodist Church, then received congratulations from and feasted with about 200 people at the Mullins Center. The marriage is the second for each. 'It was very untraditional. I mean we created it ourselves,' said Hooker said of the ceremony, which [...] did not include a best man or maid of honor and featured Hooker's 12-year-old daughter Alex, 12, who sang 'Geensleeves'."
  17. ↑ "Michael K. Hooker, at age 53; former president of UMass system". Worcester Telegram & Gazette. June 3, 1999. p. B7. ProQuest 268717437. Hooker leaves his wife, Carmen, of Chapel Hill; his daughter, Alexandra, of Baltimore, Md.; his mother, Christine Hooker, of Roanoke, Va.; and Carmen's two daughters, Jennifer and Cyndi Buell, both of Charlotte.
  18. ↑ Stobbe, op. cit., p. 2E. "Last year, at Easley's inauguration, she ran into state Sen. Fountain Odom, 63, a Mecklenburg Democrat and UNC alum whom she had known as a chancellor's wife and as a lobbyist for Carolinas HealthCare. Odom lost his wife of 39 years to cancer in 1999, the same year Hooker died. Odom and Hooker asked each other how they were doing and agreed to have a drink. By late spring, they were dating. By September, Odom knew he wanted to marry her. 'It took a little while for her to get used to the idea,' he said, laughing. Their Jan. 19 marriage led to changes in her life, ranging from what she calls herself to where she lives."
  19. ↑ "Obituaries: Former NC Senator Thomas LaFontine 'Fountain' Odom". The Herald Sun. December 3, 2023. p. B12. Retrieved May 29, 2026 – via Newspapers.com. Fountain is survived by his wife of 21 years, Carmen Hooker Odom of Charlotte, NC; a blended family of six children, Tommy Odom and wife Martha Odom of Charlotte, NC, David Odom of Marion, NC, Amy Odom of Chapel Hill, NC, Matthew Odom of Chapel Hill, NC, Jennifer Buell of Asheville, NC, Cyndi Buell-Christian and husband Shawn Christian of Wilmington, NC;
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