Carol Susan Warner

Carol Susan Warner, 73, died on May 24th in Fort Collins, Colorado after a brief and unexpected illness. Carol was born on September 28, 1951 in Detroit, Michigan to James “Jim” and Alice (Carpenter) Warner. Carol’s dad Jim was a WWII Army Air Corp veteran in the South Pacific, and later a feature writer for the Detroit News in Michigan. Jim and Alice moved their young family to Aimes, Iowa in 1961, where Jim took a position with Iowa State University. Carol attended high school in Aimes and later graduated from Iowa State with a BA in History.

Carol lived in Denver, Colorado before moving to Fort Collins in the 2000s to care for her parents, whom she adored (Carol’s parents moved to Fort Collins in 1986 when Jim retired).

Carol’s personal story is best summarized by one word: friendship. Carol never married, nor had her own children, but nevertheless she created her own large and deeply connected “family by affection”. Carol was the type of person who sent bespoke greeting cards on your birthday, Christmas and other special occasions; never text messages or e-cards. These cards were purchased months in advance, each specifically chosen for a particular individual in her life. Always hand-written with personal (sometimes sassy) heartfelt and funny messages. When her cousins went through her home after her death, they found dozens of cards, pre-addressed and stamped, ready to be sent on the appropriate day to each of her friends and relatives.

You knew Carol was creating meaningful personal relationships in life when her favorite Starbucks barista got wind that she was ill and showed up bedside at the hospital to comfort her. She probably also brought Carol one of her standard Starbucks orders: a Venti Chai Tea Latte, iced, no ice, 13 pumps of Chai, no foam, no water, skim milk (sadly, not a typo).

Carol was also defined by her causes. She cared deeply about the world around her, including but not limited to politics. She was a fierce Democrat, a volunteer election monitor and supporter of the Larimer Democratic party office. She spent hundreds of hours volunteering with the Poudre River Friends of the Library, Planned Parenthood, and assisted with English as a Second Language classes in Fort Collins.

Carol also created a “mini-Stonehenge” of enormous, engraved stone chairs and a stone table in her Little Library at her Tulane Drive home, stocked with the classics, modern literature, and many children’s books. Carol volunteered extensively with HABIC (Human Animal Bond in Colorado) who, with along her beloved Golden Retriever Kismet, brought joy, comfort and wet noses to hospital patients, school children and nursing home residents alike. Even in her last days in the Poudre Valley Hospital, Carol’s dog Kismet enchanted nurses, doctors, staff, patients and their families as she sat vigil with Carol’s cousin Sean, his wife Evelyn and daughter Carolyn who were at her side when she died, along with her BFF Traci on the telephone from New Mexico.

Carol also cared deeply about the environment, so she drove an electric car, a Tesla model Y, and also had a Tesla Power Wall battery storage system in her garage and Tesla solar roof on her home. Although Carol’s dad was an Army veteran – not Navy – Carol could swear to make a sailor blush. She quipped that she bought “all the Tesla stuff before Elon became a ****ing ***hole”. That was Carol.

Carol also loved baseball. She was a regular at Fort Collins Foxes games, and she was a member of the Battitudes, a (mostly) over 50 softball team. In her later years she didn’t play, but she secretly sponsored players who needed help, and she got her money’s worth with snappy and often profane retorts for umpires who called outside strikes on her teammates. Carol also loved live theater. She was a regular patron at Shakespeare in the Park, Lincoln Center and large and small theater productions in Denver.

Carol is survived by her brother David Warner and his wife Cecile of Boulder CO, her first cousins Sean Carpenter of Fort Collins CO, Kevin Carpenter of Sarasota FL, Cristin (Kit) Carpenter-Schuetz of Gill MA, Jane Carpenter of Santa Fe NM, Anne Carpenter of Ann Arbor MI, Rick and Bob Longhurst of NY, Jim Longhurst of MA, and 2nd cousins Carolyn and Jack Carpenter of Fort Collins CO, Jennie Schuetz of MA, and Willa and Lucas Carpenter of FL.

Carol is also survived by her family by affection, including her “sister from another mister” Traci Cadigan, as well as dozens of close friends, teammates, and of course, by Kismet, who is now living with the family of Carol’s long-time neighbors and friends.

A celebration of Carol’s life will be held on July 31st at City Park Shelter #7 at 4:00pm. After the celebration, please join us for the final Fort Collins Foxes baseball game of the season, at 6:00pm at the City Park field. Carol would have been there for sure.

Finally, as you might expect Carol donated her entire estate to help others; via a scholarship fund established by her dad Jim to honor Carol’s mom Alice, at Western Michigan University, where her parents met and fell in love after the war.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Alice Carpenter Warner Scholarship at Western Michigan University. The scholarship is for financial needy students of color, especially African Americans.

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