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Carolyn Alderette April 26, 1943 – June 6, 2015 Carolyn Alderette, the former Sara Carolyn Knott, born to Sara Jim Hilley and Kenneth L. Knott of Dallas, TX, April 26, 1943, died on June 6, 2015. She graduated in 1961 as Valedictorian from Berlin High School in Germany where her mother and step-father Lt. Col. Harry G. Sherblom were stationed after World War II. In 1965 she graduated from Texas Western College of Mines in El Paso, TX, as Outstanding Senior and with the Golden Scroll of Scholastic Achievement. She was a member of Zeta Tau Alpha Sorority. In 1968 she and Edward Alderette of El Paso, TX, were married in New Orleans, LA, where they would both eventually complete Masters Degrees at Tulane University School of Social Work.She renovated homes in Lexington, KY 1973-1975, Atlanta, GA 1975-1977, and in the King William Historic District of San Antonio, TX 1977-1981. In 1983, Carolyn became a Medical Social Worker at Methodist Hospital. She did Home Health Social Work and became the Director of Family Friends under the aegis of Any Baby Can. From 1997 until her retirement in 2007, she was the Director of Admissions for Morningside Ministries on Babcock Road. Wherever Carolyn worked and whatever she did, she maintained a record of "Summa Cum Laude" evaluations for the quantity and quality and the theory and practice which she exhibited in her professional performance. Carolyn beat cancer twice; once, through a courageous total hysterectomy and, again, through a lumpectomy. Not being able to grace life's garden with progeny of her own was a tough regret to overcome; showering love on her younger sisters and multiple nieces and nephews, especially Eileen and Emily the daughters of the brother she cherished, helped her to bear 'no child of her own.' Family, especially her early and hearty ties to the two Kens in her life, her dad and her brother, grounded her in firm convictions about where love truly begins. From there she went to palpable compassion for the poor and the unprotected, including those in the animal kingdom. Her favorite charities were for those populations. Carolyn believed in understated elegance in fashion and dressed accordingly; that gene she inherited from her mother. Her artistic eye for home decoration and color, especially her predilections for Southwest art, was strictly of her divination. One maternal aunt instilled in young Carolyn and Ken the vision to see Spirit permeating all animal life. In adulthood, Carolyn came to recognize that self-same Spirit in "the solidity of the mountain" and the "flexibility of the wind" and in all created beings. From there emerged her all-encompassing theology: there is Spirit in everything and every one and that Spirit is the Creator, all One, and, of course, to her that is the end and the beginning of the Mystery. The finesse in nurturance and display of affection, which she readily displayed to family and others, alike, she inherited from another maternal aunt. Carolyn was preceded in death by her dad and step-mother, Kenneth and Janie Knott; by her mom and step-father, Sara and Harry Sherblom; by her brother Ken Knott of Montgomery, AL, as well as all paternal and maternal grandparents and all aunts and uncles. If Carolyn would have contributed to her own obituary, she probably would have added: "Creator, you have given us a tough and even more magnificent life. Thank you, Creator." Survivors include: Edward Alderette, her husband of 47 years and her sisters: Sue Ellen Sherblom G. Thomas Woodard of Arnold, MD, and Lisa Sherblom of San Antonio, TX, and multiple nieces and nephews and grand nieces and nephews. In lieu of flowers, remembrances can be made in memory of Carolyn to ABODE, Contemplative Care for the Dying, 8619 Post Oak Lane, San Antonio, TX 78217 or to Morningside Ministries, 700 Babcock Road, San Antonio, TX 78201. The family is most grateful to the personnel at Arden Courts Assisted Living for ten months of wonderful care and to Vitas Hospice for over five months of palliative care. The family was truly enriched by the contemplative care so generously imparted to Carolyn during the last months of her life by Abode Contemplative Care for the Dying under the direction of Ms. Jane Marie Young.

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Carolyn Alderette

April 26, 1943 - June 6, 2015