F. Carolyn Kirkwood
January 24, 1925 — July 23, 2017
F. Carolyn Hughes Kirkwood, 92, passed away July 23, 2017, from pulmonary and heart disease. Carolyn was born in Chillicothe, Missouri, on January 24, 1925, to Lloyd Delton Hughes and Fern LaRue Woodruff Hughes. She was the youngest of four children. She was raised in Des Moines, Iowa, and graduated from Roosevelt High School in 1942. She attended Lindenwood College in St. Charles, Missouri, and Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. During the summers of her youth, she went to Camp Hantesa (Boone, Iowa) and later earned the camp’s prestigious Vagabond award as an adult counselor in 1943.
She married John W. "Jack" Kirkwood in 1945 (divorced 1975), and together they had three children, Kim, Mark, and Lisa, who were her focus for the rest of her life. The family lived in Iowa, Michigan, and Kentucky. Carolyn joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1970 and moved to Provo, Utah, in 1972. She worked in the office of Drs. Bateman and Moody for many years. She then worked for the Provo Post Office (passports and box section) for 31 years, retiring in 2010 at the age of 85. She served as Utah state’s APWU (American Postal Workers Union) secretary for 15 years.
Carolyn enjoyed traveling, reading, doing genealogy, researching family history, completing crossword puzzles, studying the scriptures, crocheting, and exploring nature. She loved dogs, and was preceded in death by special friends Chugger, Laddie, and Nugget. She is survived by her beloved yellow lab, Savannah.
Carolyn dearly loved her children and their families, and planned to live to 114 – just to keep taking care of them. She stayed young by claiming she was only 37 years old. She will be remembered for her grace, wisdom, wondrous stories, and faith in Christ. She strove to live by the creed: “That light which has been given to me, I desire to pass undimmed to others.”
She was preceded in death by her parents and siblings, Lloyd, Bill, and Beverly, and her nephew Rusty. Carolyn is survived by her three children, Kim (John) Harris, Mark (Jody) Kirkwood, and Lisa Kirkwood Bean; as well as seven grandchildren, Christy (Michael), Jenna (Wendell), Andrea, Jonathan, Emily, David and Will; nine great-grandchildren, Katherine, Spencer, Charlotte, Benjamin, Emma, Anson, Nathan, Annika and Beck; two nieces, Diane (Gene) Lassiter and Sharon (Dennis) Kullander; and a nephew, Doug Hughes.
A visitation will be held Friday, July 28, 2017, from 6-8 p.m. at the Sundberg-Olpin Funeral Home located at 495 South State Street in Orem, Utah. Funeral services will be held Saturday, July 29, 2017, at 1:30 p.m. at the Sunset Heights 2nd Ward located at 1260 South 400 West in Orem, Utah, with visitation beginning at 12:30 p.m. Interment will be at the Provo City Cemetery.
Condolences for the family may be expressed on this page.