After 22 years of managing storm recoveries, swimming pool needs, street maintenance, home improvement requests and most anything else you can think of, Carol Wolf is retiring as Lakewood HOA manager.

Carol is closing her company, Carol Wolf Management, effective Oct. 1 to retire after 30 years in the business. Her last day at Lakewood will be Sept. 30. An HOA board subcommittee of board President Lee Rutledge, Director Marty Erhart and homeowner Shawn Jamail led the search for her replacement. They reached out to 10 companies, heard back from eight and took the top three to the full board. The new company will be announced at the monthly board meeting Sept. 14.

“I want to thank the Lakewood homeowners for allowing me to be a part of the neighborhood and feel like one of the owners,” Carol says. “I’ve tried to put myself in everybody else’s shoes and think, ‘This is what I would want and what everyone would want.’”

Board President Lee Rutledge expressed thanks for Carol’s work for Lakewood. “Carol’s knowledge of HOA law in Texas, her institutional memory and her connections with contractors have served our community well,” Lee said. She noted that Carol’s company had other clients, but “she always put Lakewood first.”

Carol says she’s enjoyed getting to know HOA board members and working with them. She also expressed special gratitude for Lori Penrose, her longtime assistant, who recently stepped down for another job.

A San Antonio native who moved here in the late 1980s, Carol started her property management career 30 years ago when working for a real estate company that managed an HOA. She handled the front desk and moved up the ladder.

So what does Carol consider Lakewood’s major accomplishments or challenges in her time here?

“Getting all that cleanup done from the snow and ice,” Carol recalls of Winter Storm Uri in 2021 and the ice storm in 2023. Uri in particular left many people across Austin without power for days, hobbled mobility, caused structural damage and brought emotional trauma for many. “That was a lot on everybody.”

But for now, Carol’s to-do list includes taking it easier, hanging out with family and being “grateful for the many opportunities and support I’ve received.”