Carol JoAnn Britton

Carol JoAnn Franz Britton, much-loved sister, mother, grandmother and friend, passed away on Friday, December 21, 2018 at the University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle, surrounded by her family.

Carol was born in Seattle in 1943, the daughter of the late Joseph and Mildred (Trask) Franz. She grew up along Puget Sound in the Shorewood neighborhood of Burien, attending Evergreen High School. She graduated from the University of Washington School of Nursing in 1965, and worked as a public health nurse in King County early in her career.

In 1969, she moved to Olympia, where she raised her three daughters, Sara, Marjorie and Tess, and enjoyed her work with the League of Women Voters. She served on the LWV state board in the 1970s and was proud of her work on school financing.

After raising her kids, Carol returned to work as a public health nurse in Lewis County and went back to school, earning her MBA from St. Martin’s University in 1993. She worked as an occupational nurse consultant with the Department of Labor and Industries, a job she found rewarding and satisfying, and she developed many enduring friendships there.

She was an avid gardener all of her life (as was her mother before her) and also a cook and baker, known for her cookies, pies and pastries and whimsical storybook-themed pancakes. She loved her dogs, and had four collies over the years (Pepper, Lolly, Polly and Valo).

She especially loved to travel and journeyed the world with her children, her grandchildren and friends. She explored her family roots inNärpes, Finland and Bavaria, Germany. She enjoyed nature-focused trips to the Galapagos Islands, toured castles in England, visited Santa’s reindeers in Lapland and explored Vietnam as a member of a cousin’s wedding party. One of her favorite trips was to Turkey, where she reveled in the markets, spices, rugs and culture.

Carol volunteered for the Lacey Veteran’s Services Hub, was a tutor with the After School Tutoring Program at The Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd in Olympia, and was active in Olympia’s Finnish Heritage Group. In 2018, she became a WSU-certified Master Gardener. She made a lot of friends through all these activities and she will be truly missed by all who knew her.

Mourning her loss are her three daughters and son-in-law, Sara Britton of Seattle, Marjorie and Keith Sippola of Granite Bay, Calif. and Tess Britton of Seattle; her brother and sister-in-law, Ron and Carmella Franz, of Burien; and her four grandchildren, Gunnar, Hanna, Kaarl and Evaliisa Sippola. She is also survived by her cousin, Robin (Peter) Kreidler and many cousins, extended family and friends.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials be made to Good Shepherd’s After School Tutoring Program or The Master Gardeners of Thurston County’s Dirt Works Garden (part of their summer children’s program) or the charity of your choice.