Carolyn Sue Walters

Carolyn Sue Walters of New Orleans passed away on April 15, 2024 at University Medical Center. As the only child of Wilford T. “Pee Wee” and Doris Reddoch Walters of Laurel, MS she was born at the home of her maternal grandparents in the community of Hebron, Mississippi on November 1, 1932. After graduation from high school, she attended Jones County Junior College for two years before transferring to Mississippi State College where she received a Bachelor of Science Degree (1952). Following a 12-month internship at the School of Medical Technology at Charity Hospital in New Orleans (1952-53), she earned the status of MT(ASCP) after passing the national certification examination by the American Society of Clinical Pathologists. Later in her career Carolyn was awarded a Master of Health Sciences degree at LSU School of Allied Health Sciences in New Orleans (1982). Her first job in laboratory medicine was at Jackson County Hospital in Pascagoula, MS. Subsequently, she held positions at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, MS; University of Colorado Medical Centre in Denver, CO; and Ochsner Foundation Hospital in New Orleans, LA. In 1962 Carolyn Sue took a hiatus from laboratory medicine to live and work in Germany as a Service Club Recreation Director in the Special Services Division of the United States Army in Europe. She spent the next 4 ½ years in that position with assignments in West Berlin, Augsburg, Landshut, and Kirch-Göns West Germany. Upon her return from Germany, she resumed her career in laboratory medicine at Charity Hospital where she remained until 1970 when she was appointed to the faculty of the Department of Pathology at the LSU Medical School. During her more than 30 years of teaching at the medical school, Carolyn Sue taught hundreds of second year medical students and in 2003 was chosen by the Class of 2005 to receive the Aesculapian “Excellence in Teaching Award”. Although she had none of her own, when asked if she had children, she said “I have about 175 every year. It was her love for her students that kept her “on the job” until 2005 when she retired at the age of 73. Carolyn Sue was active in local, state, and national laboratory medicine professional societies and served a term as President of both the New Orleans Society for Medical Technologists and the Louisiana State Society for Medical Technologists. In 1971, she was appointed to and for sixteen years served on the Board of Governors of the Board of Registry, the certifying body for the ASCP’s Associate Members. At the ASCP National Meeting in Philadelphia in 1997, she was awarded the Associate Member “Lifetime Achievement Award”. Following her retirement in 2005, Carolyn Sue initially divided her time between her home in New Orleans and Mesa, Arizona. Like many, the restrictions of “COVID-19” forced her to “abandon” the Mesa home and remain at home in the Faubourg Marigny. Surrounded by her treasures and memories she took the opportunity to write a book about her experiences in Germany. “A Broad Abroad’s Photo Journal: Life with the US Army Service Clubs in 1960’s Germany” was published in 2022. Carolyn Sue lived a full life guided by her mother’s advice to “Follow your dreams and if you ever have regrets, let them be for ‘things you did and NOT for things you had the chance to do but didn’t.’” Graveside service and burial will be held on Saturday, April 20th at 2:00 p.m. at Hickory Grove Cemetery in Laurel, MS. A second line celebration of life will be held in New Orleans at a later date. To sign the online guest book, visit www.memorychapellaurel.com.

Carolyn Sue Walters

November 1, 1932 - April 15, 2024