Carolyn Huckshorn

Carolyn Huckshorn, a fierce crusader over many decades for women’s health care and reproductive rights, passed away Aug. 5th in hospice care at UNC Hospitals. She died peacefully of natural causes at age 96, her family said. 

Huckshorn descended from sturdy Montana pioneer stock. But she spent most of her adult life in South Florida, where she and her husband Robert raised their three daughters. First a stay at home mother, her deep interest in history and politics led Carolyn to become involved in the League of Women Voters. She then joined the local Planned Parenthood chapter, first as a volunteer and later as a full-time public affairs activist for the organization’s regional office. That role took her frequently, to the Florida state capitol of Tallahassee and to Washington DC, where she would buttonhole members of Congress to press the case for women’s health care funding and pro-choice legislation. She was a reliable presence on the front lines, attending protests and rallies and bringing along her daughters and friends.

 Gregarious, charming and always well-prepared, Carolyn was adept at lobbying representatives on both sides of her issues. She was deeply committed to the work, so much so that even as she underwent chemotherapy treatments for two bouts of breast cancer, she continued to drive the 40 minutes to her office on her treatment days.

 Carolyn was born in New York City but raised in Chicago, where her father, an immigrant from what was then Czechoslovakia, worked as a metallurgist and her mother a registered nurse. She graduated from Knox College, a respected women’s college, in Illinois. She then moved with her parents to the small town of Willow Springs, Missouri, where she was hired to teach high school Geography and English.

On the first day of school, she met another young teacher, Robert Huckshorn. The two soon began dating and married in 1951. What followed were nomadic years as Robert climbed the university academic ladder, with teaching jobs at UCLA, Idaho and then New York City and Washington DC. In 1963, with a full-time professorship offer from a new university, Florida Atlantic, they moved to Boca Raton. 

Carolyn and Bob were soul mates, married for 68 years, until his passing in 2018. After his death, Carolyn moved to Chapel Hill to be near family where she continued her passions for gardening, reading and fighting for reproductive health. She and Bob lost an infant daughter (Kerin Rae). She is survived by daughters Kevin Ann (Noel), Kristin (Martin) and Dana (Stephens) and grandsons Jack (Annabelle) and Cameron (Skylar). 

Carolyn was beloved by her family and a legion of friends and colleagues who adored her direct way of speaking, her energy and loyalty, her generosity of spirit and her wonderful ability to laugh at herself. In her honor, donations can be made Planned Parenthood of Florida at https://www.plannedparenthood.org/planned-parenthood-florida or your local Planned Parenthood or Food Bank.