Carolyn Gloria Drees' Obituary
Carolyn Drees, 87, died Friday, March 29th, 2013 in American Fork, Utah. Born in Atlanta, Georgia on June 14th, 1925 it was there where she lived, earning a degree in Nursing, until her marriage to Willis (Bill) Neal Drees on December 30th, 1947. Together they lived in Chicago and Denver before relocating to the east coast, living in Virginia and finally Annapolis, Maryland where she lived from 1965 until 2007.
In her lifetime Carloyn worked as a registered nurse in several hospitals and as a private duty nurse in the early 1960’s for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter. She had a passion for healthcare, especially as it pertained to proper nutrition and preventive medicine. While living in Maryland, she also worked for the Anne Arundel County Board of Education as a teacher and coordinator for Health Occupations programs, training and placing high school students in health care careers. Carolyn had a great love for the gospel of Jesus Christ, which was a strong foundation for how she lived her life and raised her family. She retired from full-time employment in 1987 but was not idle in her retirement as she and her husband served as Church Service Missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for many years. Carolyn served in every capacity possible within her church but especially loved any opportunity to teach.
Music was a great joy of hers and she loved to sing as well as attend concerts of all kinds. It would be easy to confuse her with “Mother Nature” because of her love for the outdoors and all animals, domesticated or wild. Whether it was caring for her own pets or nursing an abandoned bird back to health, she felt her calling was to care for all living things.
She is survived by her children, Lynn Dibble (Dayton, Ohio), Holly Reidy (San Diego, California), Deanna Steed (Lehi, Utah), Dale Drees (San Diego, California), Jennifer Hunt (Pleasant Grove, Utah) 12 grandchildren, and 7 great-grandchildren.
Funeral services will be Wednesday, April 3, 2013 at 11:00 a.m. at the American Fork 30th Ward 261 N 900 E, American Fork, UT. There will be a visitation immediately prior to the service from 9:30 to 10:45 AM on Wednesday.
She will be interred in Davidsonville, Maryland where a graveside service will be held. Date and time TBA.
She had a great love and appreciation for the physicians, nurses, and staff of the Huntsman Cancer Center in Salt Lake City, Utah who helped her through two occurrences of cancer. Consequently, the family requests that in lieu of flowers, a donation be made to the Huntsman Cancer Center at http://www.huntsmancancer.org/giving/huntsman-cancer-foundation/ways-to-give/donate-online.
The family would also like to especially thank Hospice For Utah for the kind and gentle care during the last weeks of her life.
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