Carol Hrdlicka [June 28, 2016?] [21
Jun 2016]
Obituary
It is with heavy hearts that Jayne,
David and Dick Hrdlicka announce the passing of their mother and wife
Carol Hrdlicka on June 21.
Carol has battled Alzheimer's disease
for the last five years and recently had taken a severe downturn.
Notwithstanding the great care she was given at Kingston, in Santa
Fe, New Mexico, she stopped eating and passed away peacefully last
Tuesday at 2:15 p.m., at the age of 79.
She was born in Newton and grew up in
Hesston with her sister and two brothers on a farm and a cattle ranch
operated by her father Kenneth and eventually also her two brothers
Bob and Richard, all of who and her mother preceded her in death. In
her teens, she was very active in 4-H and won a number of prized
cattle showings nationwide.
Carol was a Kansas State University
Alumni. She met Dick, then a brand-new lawyer, when she was home from
school, and they married in 1958. While Dick was practicing law,
Carol became very active in the community. Episcopal Church,
charitable organizations, Republican Party, bridge groups and women's
organizations occupied her attention.
Children came along soon. First Jayne,
then David. Without question, Carol's greatest legacy is her
children. By now, Dick was travelling a lot and home seldom. Carol
devoted her total intellect and energy to her then small children,
but never let up until the kids were away in school, and then only
partially. As a consequence, the older Hrdlickas ended up with two
highly accomplished children, who in addition are great human beings
and are themselves now raising great children. Carol's legacy will
endure for generations and is her contribution to keeping America
exceptional.
As the children were growing up, Carol
also became a passionate cook and loved to entertain family, friends
and business associates. She became renowned for her entertaining and
helped Dick by entertaining delegations from Russia, Hungary and
Yugoslavia during transactions. This love for entertaining carried
with her throughout her life.
After the children were in graduate
school, Jayne in Tuck Business School, at Dartmouth, David at
Columbia Business School, Dick was hired as Senior Vice President and
General Counsel of Fiat USA in New York and the two of them moved to
Darien, Connecticut. Carol, who selected the house they moved to (in
a tennis community), while Dick was traveling, immediately made
friends while playing tennis, making the transition from Kansas to
Connecticut a seamless one.
Making friends, loving people and
devoting her life to her family were Carol's traits. She brought
these traits to Santa Fe, when she and Dick retired and moved here in
2000. Dick continued to travel and do transactions for Fiat for
another couple of years and Carol continued to make new friends
principally in the tennis community and among the bridge players. She
was one of the founding members of the Las Campanas bridge group and
continued to play frequently until her disease made it impossible.
The entire Hrdlicka family owes a big debt of gratitude to the Las
Campanas bridge group for their patience and tolerance with Carol,
when the Alzheimer's disease began to impair her mental faculty.
Alzheimer's is a terrible disease and
the quality of life toward the end is terrible and unsustainable.
Carol was a very intelligent person. She recognized this, and chose
to end her life sooner, rather than later. She is to be admired for
that, but Jayne, David and Dick will miss her terribly.
A Memorial Service for Carol is being
planned for the afternoon of July 22. Details will be forthcoming.
