|
Carol Ann Rushton, 71, formerly of Placitas, New Mexico, southeastern Michigan and Muskogee, Oklahoma, died May 25 in Boulder, Colorado, her home of only six months. Her death was due to complications from amyloidosis, a rare blood cancer. Carol was born December 7, 1938, in Oak Park, Illinois, the older of two children. Her parents were Dr. James S. Rushton and Mary Anne Hunnicutt Rushton. Most of her youth was spent in Muskogee, Oklahoma. Following high school, she completed two post-secondary years at Warren Woods College in Fulton, Missouri. Her Bachelor's Degree was earned at Oklahoma State University, where she belonged to Kappa Kappa Gamma. She was very active in sports, including swimming, tennis, and later in her life, bicycling and hiking. After college Carol moved to the Eastern US, where she earned her Master's Degree in Student Personnel in Higher Education at Syracuse University. She then worked in higher education positions in colleges and universities in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New York. She later moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan, then began working for Michigan Bell and later AT&T phone company. Her work took her from Ann Arbor to Farmington Hills, then Royal Oak, Michigan. Carol retired from a human resources position at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan. Upon retirement, Carol chose Placitas, New Mexico, for the site of her new home. While the rammed earth home was being built, she spent a year in Muskogee with her elderly mother. She then moved her mother to her new home in Placitas, caring for her until her death in 2001. Carol and friend, Erana, planted and cared for a beautiful desert garden at the new home. In addition to gardening, Carol's primary retirement activities were hiking, keeping up on current world events, traveling, and volunteering at the local recycling center. Throughout her life, Carol was known for her extroverted involvement in all her relationships and activities, always going for and enjoying a good story and a good laugh. Carol is survived by a younger brother, Jim Rushton, of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and his son, Drew Rushton, wife Stephanie, and their two one-year-old twin boys, of Eugene, Oregon; her dear friend Erana terEllen and her "adopted" terEllen extended family; Marije terEllen Flaherty, Tom Flaherty and daughter Arianne of Boulder, Colorado; and Michiel and Vishalini Lawrence terEllen, currently residing in Phnom Penh, Cambodia . Memorial contributions can be made to Doctors without Borders USA (PO Box 5030, Hagerstown, MD 21741 or 1-888-392-0392) or The Nature Conservancy (4245 N. Fairfax Drive, Suite 100, Arlington, VA 22203 or 1-800-628-6860).
|
