Carol Joan Folio, 2019

Photos of Carol Joan Through the Years

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Carol Joan Folio (1934-2020)

Carol Joan Folio lived her life with limitless passion and unceasing positivity that was infectious. Born in Washington D.C. on January 8, 1934, she spent her childhood helping her mother cook and bake, chores that eventually grew into a lifelong passion for food and entertaining. Carol Joan attended McKinley Technology High School in Washington D.C. until her family relocated to Bethesda, MD in 1950. She graduated from Bethesda Chevy Chase High School in 1951. Carol Joan went on to earn her RN in 1956 from Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing. During her career, she worked as both the Supervising Nurse for John Hopkins Hospital’s Neonatal-Perinatal Unit and as a Technical Researcher with the Heart Institute for the National Institute of Health.

Carol Joan's passion for nursing was only one of her defining features. Just one glance in her direction and her passion for fashion was evident. She always dressed to the nines, wearing all the latest fashions and making sure to pair every outfit with colorful jewelry and a smile that brightened every room she entered. Her elegant demeanor served her well as she loved to travel the world and dine at all the best reviewed restaurants.

An active member of Tasker's Chance Garden Club since 1978, Carol Joan was given a lifelong Honorary Membership in March 2020. She also cherished her time as a congregant of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Frederick, Maryland.

While Carol Joan loved to travel, there was no place in the world she loved more than her knickknack filled, Pepsi, red, white, and blue, beach themed beach house in Chincoteague, VA. She spent 34 lazy sun filled summers enjoying days at the beach and evenings eating blue crabs and ice cream with the people she loved most.

Every moment spent with Carol Joan felt like an event. She worked endlessly to make every minute with her special. Her aforementioned passion for entertaining, cooking and baking meant that every holiday at her house was a fairy tale. Whether she was stuffing eggs with small gifts for the annual Easter egg hunt, sewing costumes for her grandchildren, or preparing for another grand present open ceremony in her formal living room which she only used on Christmas Eve, she would start baking, decorating, and setting the table for all holidays weeks prior to the event. Family members arrived every year to find new inventive table settings, accompanied by enough food to feed a small army. While greatly appreciated by most of the family, her desire to implement all the latest entertaining trends did lead to her husband proclaiming, "Damn that Martha Stewart!" on multiple occasions. A proclamation that always made her laugh, even if her husband was not.

In 2018, Carol Joan was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease and moved just miles away from her beloved Iron Gate Lane home to Somerford Place Frederick where she died peacefully on August 20, 2020 after testing positive for Covid-19. While her family and friends were unable to be with her at the time of her passing, Carol Joan was surrounded by her loving team of nurses who had cared for her since her arrival at Somerford. While her Alzheimer's did progress through her final years, she never forgot the names and faces of her many visitors or the love she shared with them. True to form, her last words, directed with intention and a smile to her family, were "I love you."

In loving memory of Carol Joan Folio, we ask remembrances be made to the Alzheimer's Association for Alzheimer's research with the hope that this disease which separates families will one day become a distant memory that everyone can recall.