Dr. Carole Wood Gorenflo
Carole
Elizabeth Wood Gorenflo passed away on October 8th 2016, after a
courageous two-year battle with pancreatic cancer.
Carole was born on December 3rd
1954, in South Bend Indiana. She
graduated from Jefferson High School in 1972, and then earned her B.S. from
Purdue University in 1976, where she was a member of Kappa Alpha Theta
sorority.
Focused on a career as a Speech Language
Pathologist, Carole earned her M.S. in 1978 from Guys Medical School, London
England. She then completed her Ph.D. at
Michigan State University in 1986. At
M.S.U. she met her future husband, Dr. Daniel W. Gorenflo in an advanced
psychometrics course.
Dan sat in front of her, and would often drop
his pencil so he could get a peek at her.
They immediately fell in love, enjoying college life and many walks by
the gardens along the Red Cedar River.
They were married in December of 1985 and enjoyed over thirty years of
pure love.
Carole was preceded in death by her brother
James Wood and her father Lewis Wood.
Carole is survived by Daniel and their
daughters Anna and Caroline, Carole’s mother Katherine Dittrich, brother Robert
and sister Bri White, James widow Gerri Wood and sisters in law Sally, Susan
and brother in law Thomas, and many loving cousins, nieces and nephews.
Gifted with high intelligence and stunning
beauty, Carole was a pioneer in the field of Augmentative Communication, giving
the gift of speech to those without, and publishing many scientific scholarly
articles, a number of them with Daniel.
Over a thirty-six year career (twenty-six at
Eastern Michigan Univ.) Carole was awarded full professorship, and after
retirement in 2014, Emeritus Professorship.
Carole traveled around the world; she served
as president of the Grosse Pointe, M.I. Kappa Alpha Alumni group. She enjoyed decades of family fun on the
beach and in the woods at their second home in Northport, MI. Her husband remembers her unconditional love,
her dedication as a wife and mother, her bravery and grace, warmth, lovely voice,
eyes, magnificent smile, wit and love of life.
Her daughters will remember her adventurous
spirit, courage, elegant style, humor, generosity, her loving compassionate
nature and her love of their pet Whippets.
In lieu of flowers, Carole has endowed a
scholarship for Speech-Language students at Purdue Univ. Gifts may be made to Purdue Carole Gorenflo
Scholarship, addressed to: Purdue Research Foundation, 403 West Wood Street,
West Lafayette, IN 47906.
Burial has taken place in Northport, MI.
A memorial service is scheduled at St.
Christopher’s Church, 701 North Warren Street, Northport, MI on Saturday
October 29th at 11am.
Please
share condolences with Carole’s family below:
My deepest sympathy to Carol's family. I had the privilege of working with her in Special Ed. at Eastern for over 20 years. She was an outstanding individual and a dear friend. She will be missed.
ReplyDeleteMy deepest sympathy to Carole's family. I worked with her in Special Ed. at Eastern for many years and knew her to be an outstanding individual and a dear friend. She will be missed.
ReplyDelete"Gifted with high intelligence and stunning beauty", those words couldn't be truer of Carole. I am so fortunate to have known Carole as one of my Theta sisters at Purdue and thrilled that we were able to be together at Theta's 100th anniversary in 2014. My sincerest condolences to Carole's family. What a wonderful and accomplished woman who will be deeply missed by so many. Melanie Barnette Caldwell
ReplyDeleteMy deep sympathy to the family on the loss of Carole, our treasured neighbor and friend. It was a joy to hear about the close bond between my mom, Carole, Anna, and Caroline. And I was very lucky to have Carole's help and encouragement when I was a single mother with a young son. The world has lost one of its brightest lights. -Christy (Wilson) Klim
ReplyDelete