Carol Tifft passed away, December 29, 2012, from complications of Alzheimer’s disease. Carol was 86.She was born Carol Yvonne Tiller on Aug. 4, 1926, in Dassel, Minnesota. Her parents were William and Edith Tiller. She moved with her family to Oregon during the Great Depression, graduating from Klamath Union High School in 1944, where she was in the honor society and pep club. In 1945, she was accepted to the School of Nursing at Oregon Health & Science University as part of the Army Nurse Corps and trained at Doernbecher Children’s Hospital. Caring for children became her life, first as head nurse of the pediatric unit at Coronado Hospital in San Diego and later at San Francisco Children’s Hospital.

It was in San Francisco that she met her sweetheart of 56 years, Coast Guardsman Lt. Paul Tifft. They married in 1950 and she took up the military life, moving 10 times in 24 years. She became a nurse with San Diego City Schools in 1966, retiring in the 1980s after many years of service to the children of San Diego County.

Carol had a passion for gardening and was an avid golfer. She and Paul were members of Bernardo Heights Country Club in Rancho Bernardo, California for many years. Following the death of Paul in 2006, she moved to Portland to be closer to her daughter, Jan.

Carol is survived by her three children, Dr. Cynthia Tifft of Baltimore, Maryland, Jan Thede of Lake Oswego, and Bill Tifft of San Diego; their spouses Forrest, Jeff, and Julie; and six grandchildren. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Oregon Health & Science University School of Nursing.