December 19, 1934 – December 14, 2020

Carol Saunders-White passed away peacefully at home on December 14, 2020.

Carol was born in California to Charles and Ruth Saunders-White. After graduating from college, she did what was expected of most women in the 1950s: She married, had two boys, and followed her husband’s work from Kansas City, MO to Staten Island, NY, to Camden, NJ, and then to Detroit, MI.

Carol was always up for an adventure. After divorcing her husband, she packed the boys in a station wagon and drove from Detroit to Aspen, CO. She did it without knowing if she could get a job there. Being her resourceful self, she quickly found a job she loved: Interior Designer at Aspen Furniture.

While working and raising her two boys, Carol oversaw the design and construction of her duplex in Mountain Valley. It was a huge financial strain, but she got it done.

Over the next two decades, she became the manager at Aspen Furniture before going on to work for Walter Welch Interiors and several prominent architects, including Augie Reno and Bill Paas. As the years passed, Carol came to be known and respected throughout the valley.

In her later years, her need for adventure called again. Carol joined the Peace Corps and lived in Belize. She lived in Mallorca, Spain for a time, and served as a Fraternity Mother in Lawrence, Kansas. After deciding that she wanted to see more of her own country, she bought a Vixen motor home and did just that.

Carol was an early advocate for women’s rights and a proud member of the local NOW chapter. She was also an animal lover (with a particular fondness for cats), and supported various animal shelters in Colorado and New Mexico.

Carol was a lovely woman inside and out, and she will be missed dearly by her family and friends. She is survived by her brother, Chuck Saunders-White of Loveland, CO; her two sons, Alex Phillips of Woodinville, WA and Chris Phillips of Aspen, CO; and her grandson, Miles Phillips of Carbondale, CO.

Anyone wishing to make a donation in honor of Carol is encouraged to support their local animal shelter.