Carolyn is the daughter of Claude Melvin and Patricia Meronea nee Hankey Carter. Two of her siblings are Brian Spencer Carter (1947-2014), and Ken Carter. She first went to Morningside High School and then Lennox High where she gradauted in 1968.

On October 8, 1976, she married William Bill C. Bliss in Los Angeles. They lived in various places around the South Bay and in Escondido before settling in Torrance, They have three kids and of course grandkids. Bill passed away in 2017.