March, Carolyn

Carolyn March, 58, of Cedar Rapids, died Monday, March 18, 2013, in the University of Iowa Hospital & Clinics. Funeral Mass: 10:30 a.m. Friday at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church, where visitation will be from 3 to 8 p.m. Thursday and a vigil service at 7:30 p.m. The Very Rev. Mark Ressler will officiate. Cedar Memorial Park Funeral Home is in charge of the arrangements. Burial: Cedar Memorial Park Cemetery.

Survivors include her husband, Dale G. March; her children, Father Nick March of Protivin, Megan (Tony) DiVito of Springfield, Mo., Christopher March of Portland, Ore. and Harrison March of Iowa City; her grandsons, Luke and John DiVito, both of Springfield, Mo.; her mother, Rosalie Gagnon of Lincoln Park, Mich.; and her siblings, Margaret (Glen) Kolbicz of Livonia, Mich., Mary Gagnon of Mount Pleasant, Mich., Elaine Gagnon of Roseville, Mich., Elizabeth (Gary) Jakobcic of Royal Oak, Mich., Ann (John) Bumberry of Springfield, Mo. and Tom (Mary Lou) Gagnon of Goodrich, Mich.

Also surviving are 22 nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her father, Jerry Gagnon.

Carolyn was born Jan. 18, 1955, in Detroit, Mich., the daughter of Jerry and Rosalie Smyth Gagnon. She married Dale on June 24, 1977, in Lincoln Park, Mich. Carolyn was a nurse at the Hall Perrine Cancer Center, a reflective and humble Christian and a faithful Sacristan and founding member of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church. She was celebrated as one of “100 Great Iowa Nurses of 2012” for “Courage, Competence and Commitment,” which, in hindsight, says it all.

She had the quintessential green thumb, loved the outdoors and yearned to be a hobby farmer. She recorded one walking marathon for Leukemia and Lymphoma and longed to walk another or climb again in the Rocky Mountains before her battle with melanoma required all of her attention and energy. Her home was her castle and Dale her sous-chef (and chief taster).

The blessings that she brought to our lives cannot be measured in Earthly terms. They were indeed gifts from God, carefully wrapped in the whole person that she was and joyfully opened by those of us blessed to be her companions in life.

Please leave a message for the family on the Web page: under obituaries.

In lieu of flowers, a memorial fund has been established by the family for The American Cancer Society: www.cancer.org/involved/donate/donateonlinenow/search/index?gclid=CKiowqOiibYCFadFMgodjVUA7Q.

Published in The Gazette March 20, 2013.