03/21/2026
It is with heavy heart that I post this message. Wednesday our dear Carol suffered a stroke that caused irreparable brain damage. Her sister, Diane found her at home, called EMS, got her to Memorial, but there was too much damage. She never regained consciousness.
Knowing Carol & her life long desire to help people, her family has decided to let her share her organs with others. She has the potential to help up to 9 people. The hospital has set up a walk of Honor for her friends and family to come and pay their respect along her journey from her room to the operating room. This silent ceremony is a way of transforming our loss into a public moment of generosity. The ceremony will take place this Sunday at 11:00 at Memorial’s Heart & Vascular building, 3rd floor.
For 32 years, Carol was my mentor, friend and big sister. We often laughed that we have worked together longer than most people had been married! In many ways, our bond was as deep.
Some people have “hobbies”, hers was the love of research. She had an insatiable desire for knowledge, always looking up someone’s medical diagnosis, condition, even their vague symptoms. She would find therapeutic exercises, vitamins or herbs, treatment, or anything that would help her client not only just feel better but truly recover.
What made her even more remarkable was her humility. For as headstrong as she was, if she felt her client could benefit from a doctor or specialist, she didn’t hesitate to make the referral. It wasn’t about keeping a client, it was about helping a friend.
Her hands, guided by her Brain & Heart were her great gift. They just had a way of knowing what was wrong and how to fix it. How to find the pain and work it out. (Sometimes it’s was a love hate relationship… you had to be there to know!)
Carol’s legacy wasn’t just about healing, it was about teaching others what to do, how to do it when she couldn’t be there. It was about taking a scary diagnosis and making it more understandable. She always felt knowledge was empowerment. If you understood what was going on, then you could then proceed with the next step.
Carol was unique, funny, smart, and quite the character. We loved her laugh, her humor and her stories. To know her was to become her friend. She will be missed by so many, and our lives will not be the same without her. She would not want us to grieve but to celebrate her life. And her family has found the best way to honor her.
Her Celebration of Life arraignments will be announced later next week.
