Carol Sue Stevenson

October 7, 1947 - February 28, 2023

Carol Sue Stevenson was born in Neodesha, Kansas on October 7th, 1947. After graduating from the University of Kansas, she moved to New York City in the summer of 1969. Carol came west to San Francisco as a hippie where she met her partner, Ron Turner. They went on their first date at the local laundromat and fell in love—their partnership would last over 50 years.

While pregnant with her first child, Colin, Carol enrolled in law school at Hastings College of the Law. She worked with the Child Care Law Center for 14 years, advocating for children, families and childcare providers. Her tireless advocacy impacted the health and safety of children across California.

In 1988, Carol gave birth to her daughter, Claire, a source of great happiness. An avid feminist, Carol was a trailblazer as a full-time professional and devoted mother. She served as a program officer for the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, director of Starting Points, and later became a beloved professor of child care policy at San Francisco State University. Carol’s volunteer work included St. Martin de Porres House of Hospitality, the San Francisco Botanical Garden, as well as service on many nonprofit boards.

She instilled a deep love of travel, cultural exchange, and exploration in her family. Whether road-tripping across Canada in her early twenties, traveling solo through Central America, dancing at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, or camping in the High Sierras, Carol knew how to have a good time. She met religiously for dinner with the same group of mothers every other Tuesday for 45 years and would sing-up the sunrise each solstice. She surrounded herself with a powerful community of women friends from every part of her life.

Somewhere amid her busy life, ovarian cancer invaded her body. Carol faced it with clear vision and courage. Over the course of 22 years, Carol never lost her sense of humor or her will to live well. Although cancer was always lurking in the background, a malevolent party crasher in Carol’s wonderful life, she always said that her disease taught her to never take a single moment for granted.

Carol Sue passed away peacefully at sunrise on February 28, 2023, surrounded by family.

She is survived by her siblings Mary Anne Demeritt, Jean Stevenson (Lou Talman), Scott Stevenson (Sally), her husband Ron Turner, her children Claire Turner (Sam Reider), Colin Turner (Nancy Tran) and her three grandchildren Charlotte, Lisianthus, and Delphinium.