Obituary of Caroline Louise Ramirez

Caroline (Carol) Louise Ramirez, 89, of Santa Cruz, passed away peacefully with family at her side on Tuesday July 24^th, 2018.

Carol is survived by her loving husband of 69 years, Victor Ramirez, whom she met when they were both 15 years old while living in San Francisco.  After marrying Victor in 1949, they started a family.  They moved from San Francisco to Cupertino, then for a short time to Santa Clara.  Their final move was to the Santa Cruz Mountains on New Years Eve 1963.  It is still their family home.

Carol and Vic had 3 sons; David, Denis, and Daryl (deceased 1966) and a daughter, Lynn.  They also have 2 grandchildren, Joshua and Cody, and 3 great-grandchildren, Gabriel, Audrey, and Caleb.

Caroline was born May 4^th, 1929 in Seattle, Washington to Maxwell and Louise Ryan.  She spent her school years in San Francisco, graduated from Poly Tech High School where she was awarded a scholarship to U.C. Berkeley which went unused due to the early passing of her parents and the need to start working. 

A childhood roller skating crash in the hills of San Francisco led Caroline to become the first recipient of an experimental metal rod to correct a shattered elbow.  Her arm healed nicely though there would always be a slight bend.  She competed in swimming and missed going to the 1948 Olympics by .10 of a second.  Victor always said that her bent arm prevented Carol from touching that wall first and if not for that, their path to each other may have been different and he might have missed marrying the love of his life.

Following her long career with Pacific Bell she retired.  After her retirement, Carol began working side by side with her daughter as a marine canvas maker for 20 years.

For her 80^th birthday, Carol requested and received a ride on the back of a good friend’s Ducati Motorcycle (and she did it again a couple years later!).

Carol and Vic have been avid RV’ers for the past 25 years and have enjoyed a number of great outings to well over half of the United States.  They have also had the good fortune to travel together to many wonderful international locations.    Carol and Vic were regular members of the Scotts Valley Senior Center Bocce team for the past 10 years.

Carol’s beaming smile, sense of humor, and infectious laugh will live on in her family and friend’s memory – she is and will be missed.

A memorial service will be held at 1:00PM on Saturday, August 18^th, 2018 at San Augustin Church, 257 Glenwood Drive Scotts Valley.

The family requests in lieu of flowers that donations are made in her name to Hospice of Santa Cruz, 940 Disc Dr, Scotts Valley, CA 95066