Carolyn Louise Aust

Carolyn Louise Aust (née Hice) went home to her heavenly father on Sept. 14, 2025. She passed away, valiantly and peacefully, surrounded by her loving family.

Carolyn was born March 22, 1943, in Paonia, Colorado, to William and Genevieve (née Weyrauch) Hice.

As a small girl, Carolyn's every whim was indulged by four wonderful women – as her mother, both of her grandmothers, and her maternal great grandmother all lived on the same ranch in Austin, Colorado, and was also pampered by both of her grandfathers – learning that hard work always paid off.

She told tales of a very adventurous childhood – traveling around the country with her beloved Nana and Daddy Will. For it was during these years that her treasured father was stationed on a ship during World War II, and her mother was trying at every turn to travel, by train, to greet him in San Francisco's port, praying he'd be granted short leave.

An only child until the age of 7, Carolyn wholeheartedly welcomed her beloved brother Edward, followed a year later by her sister Marilee to join the growing family. This must have been where she got her love of all things babies!

She graduated from Delta High School as a scholar and Honor Society member. As for athletic accomplishments, she dreamed of joining a team where she could pitch baseball, but alas this was the 1950s and girls simply did not play baseball.

After graduating from high school in 1961, Carolyn attended the University of Denver on scholarship, majoring in chemistry, only to transfer to the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1962 when she set her sights on a nursing degree. Her college years were spent studying, skiing, dancing, singing, playing the piano and pipe organ, and as a member of the Delta Gamma sorority.

While still in college, she had reconnected with a fellow student from the Delta area. She and Donald Aust began sharing rides and commuting to and from CU to Western Colorado where both of their families lived. This turned into a love affair and they married in June 1965, just weeks after she’d graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing, taking the Colorado State nursing exam, and being named both CU’s and the State of Colorado’s Student Nurse of the Year.

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She then entered the work world and served patients in both private and hospital settings around Longmont, Boulder, and even inside Denver General's Emergency Department – then unsolicitously known as the “knife and gun club” because of the traumatic and critical injuries that came through their doors. It was here that she was held up at gunpoint by a man intent on using her keys to steal narcotics.

She and Don moved to Chicago where she taught labor and delivery nursing at the Northwestern University and served as the Chairwoman of Maternal and Child Health Department. Babies were, after all, her pride and joy! She loved teaching and made lifelong friends while in Evanston.

In 1968, she was overjoyed when her firstborn Marilee Elizabeth arrived. Carolyn continued to work on the night shift at Evanston Hospital to be home with Marilee during waking hours. She also continued to teach and rotated her students through both the elite Evanston Hospital and the public Cook County Hospital so that her students could see that while patients came from all walks of life -- everyone deserved the highest quality, and most compassionate care.

By 1970, the family returned to Western Colorado, settling in Grand Junction. And in 1971 she was blessed with her second daughter Alyson Louise.

During her children's early years, she was a stay-at-home mom (but didn't spend much time there)! She loved playing bridge and was in several card groups. She played fast-pitch softball, hunted arrowheads, raised horses, and even a few litters of dogs and cats. She also played hardy games of racquetball in the fishbowl at the old Colorado Athletic Club and made almost daily rounds around the neighborhood to catch up and chat over cups and cups of coffee.

Throughout the 1970s, Carolyn volunteered at Mesa County's Public Library, helping students learn to read and also taught swimming lessons in her backyard pool to youth with learning disabilities.

Her faith in God and country was strong and never wavered. She and her family were charter members of the Redlands United Methodist Church (Grand Junction) where she enjoyed singing in the choir, participating in United Methodist Women, and attending services.

In 1983, once her girls were in junior high, Carolyn returned to her professional career in nursing. Working at Family Health West in Fruita, she started several innovative programs and had many, many stories of the Colorado State Health Department’s infamous surprise inspections.

From there, she advanced quickly to her most cherished professional role as the Executive Director of the Senior Life Center (now known as the Life Center) at St. Mary's Hospital in Grand Junction. She and Don divorced, and she decided to further her education, returning to the University of Colorado to earn her Master's of Science in Nursing and by 1987, she had graduated, again with honors.

She was incredibly proud of her work and was instrumental in starting such programs in the Grand Valley as Senior Companions, Grey Gourmet, and Foster Grandparents. It was during her tenure at St. Mary's when she was appointed by Colorado Governor Roy Romer to serve as a delegate to the White House’s Commission on Aging and she enjoyed weekly visits to Denver or Washington D.C. where she met with elected officials, global health leaders, and even President Clinton and his staff. Policy was made in these workgroups and she was very proud of her long-lasting efforts to help families.

Her daughters fondly remember her hosting summer picnics at her home for the St. Mary's nuns although several of the nuns wished that she'd served whiskey instead of her famous iced tea!

At St. Mary's she was recruited to serve as the executive director and nursing home administrator for seniors with dementia and Alzheimer's disease at Wellspring in Denver. This path, however, was short lived as her home on the Western Slope was simply too far away.

Shortly after her return, she joined the Mesa County Health Department as the nursing supervisor. It was here where she helped start the Nurse-Family Partnership and felt she made meaningful impacts on the lives of children, first-time moms, and migrant families, helping them to learn critical life skills.

In her later years, Carolyn suffered tremendously, yet courageously, with age-related macular degeneration which took her vision in her mid-50s, forcing an early retirement, stealing her ability to enjoy hobbies, and halting her ability to drive, read, or even walk unaided by the time she was 70. Ever the fighter, Carolyn soldiered on.

Upon retirement Carolyn settled into her most precious role as “Nana,” watching her grandchildren grow and spending countless hours playing and reading with them.

She was an avid gardener and always produced magnificent strawberries, roses, and peonies. She was best known for her undeniable talent carving exquisite wooden birds and creating works of art in stained glass. Carolyn enjoyed PEO, spending time with neighbors and friends she'd met through the years, as well as venturing up to Grand Mesa to spend time at her great-great-grandparents’ cabin playing cards, hiking Crag Crest, picking wildflowers, hunting and cooking mushrooms, and simply soaking up the sun on the deck. She was even able to visit our sacred cabin just last fall to enjoy the fresh air and colorful leaves.

In addition to her daughters and grandchildren, she adored all animals – but especially horses and dogs. In her younger years, she loved riding horses and told innumerable stories about heading out alone on her cherished horses Pal or Clipper to camp in the woods.

She rescued most of her cherished dogs, and all have undoubtedly, and happily, greeted her at the Rainbow Bridge.

While Carolyn was preceded in death by her loving parents, she will forever be missed by those who knew her best, leaving behind daughters Marilee Aust of Grand Junction, and Alyson (Mike) Etchart, of Fruita, three precious grandchildren, Alex, Andrew, and Aryanna Etchart of Fruita, brother Ed (Mariela) Hice, of Austin, Colorado, sister Marilee (Neil) King of Boise, Idaho, several nieces, a nephew, and innumerable and faithful cousins and friends around this great nation.

Services will be held at the Redlands United Methodist Church at 1:30pm on Sat., Oct. 4, followed by internment on Oct. 5 at Cory Cemetery near her childhood home in Austin, Colorado.

Donations in Carolyn’s name can be made to any animal rescue charity, although one of her favorites was Grand Rivers Humane Society.