Carol Topliff, 74, of Maumee Ohio died peacefully on September 18, 2013, at the University of Toledo Hospital, surrounded by a few of her closest friends, after a brief illness. She was born March 6, 1939, in Toledo to Norman and Frances Topliff.
Carol was a proud graduate of the Maumee Valley Hospital School of Nursing and was a Registered Nurse in Emergency/ Trauma nursing at both Maumee Valley Hospital and the Medical College of Ohio Hospital, including 15 years as the Head Nurse of the Emergency Department. During this time she was known as a strong advocate and mentor to nurses and nursing students, physicians and medical Residents, and emergency medical personnel (Paramedics and EMTs).
She was a caring and empathic nurse who touched and changed the lives of thousands of patients. She was widely recognized for her spirit of collegiality, as a fair and respected nurse administrator, for being an expert nurse clinician, and for her ever-present sense of humor and positive approach to life. Following her retirement from MCO in 1991, Carol continued her nursing career until 2004 as an IV Home Health nurse.
She was a Lifetime Member of the University of Toledo Retirees Association. Carol loved the outdoors, caring for her large yard and planting flowers and vegetables, and floating in her inner tube on lake vacations, and going out to eat with her neighbors and friends. An everlasting love of her life were her pets over the years, especially her cats. She was the secretary of her Maumee Book Club, occasionally even reading the books.
Carol was also an accomplished artist, mostly in watercolors, and she enjoyed belonging to her painting group. She was a superb writer, even having one of her poems published in an anthology of poetry. Carol was baptized and confirmed at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Toledo.
Carol was predeceased by her parents and by her sister Judy (Julia) Topliff. She is survived by her aunt Eleanor Schramm and her husband Bernie of Worthington, Ohio and her cousins Greg and Jeff Schramm.
At Carols request, services were private, but there will be a Celebration of her Life Party on Sunday October 20, 2-6 pm at Premier Catering on Heatherdowns near Key. There will be an opportunity for friends to share stories and memories of Carol from 3-4pm.
In lieu of flowers, Carol requested memorial contributions be made to celebrate the memory of her close friend and colleague, Dorothy Hussain, R.N., to the College of Nursing Scholarship Fund (#2600295) at the University of Toledo Foundation, 2801 W. Bancroft St., Toledo 43606-3395.