Carol Binette, 83

Carol Binette passed away on Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2019, at her home in Aurora, Colorado. She was just four days from her 84th birthday.

Born in Glasgow, Montana, on Feb. 24, 1935, she was the third of six children of Herbert Edward Carden and Opal Baker Carden. The family homesteaded from Tennessee in the early 1920s. They tried their hand at dry land winter wheat farming north of Glasgow. Carol graduated from Glasgow High School and shortly thereafter married Andrew Binette.

Carol was a very committed mother of four children. She worked diligently to instill in her children a respect for diversity, feminism and education. She was a lifelong Democrat and a proponent of organic foods long before the phrase was popularized. Carol was ahead of her time in her thinking. She had a sharp eye for fashion.

At age 50, having raised her children, Carol moved with her husband to Kalispell. There she pursued her passions of reading, education, hiking and skiing. She availed herself of courses at Flathead Valley Community College, hiked extensively in Glacier National Park with her hiking group, and frequently skied in Whitefish. She became a very accomplished skier, was extraordinarily well-read, and took dozens of classes at the college. She happily never took algebra.

In her later years she suffered a stroke which severely limited her mobility but not her mind. This setback required a move to Aurora to be near the assistance of her daughters and sister. Carol was scrappy! Despite her mobility issues she worked very hard to remain active and engaged in her community and to continue her personal education through books.

Carol is survived by her husband Andrew Binette, her children Alan Binette, M.D. (Susan), Steven Binette, M.D. (Mimi), Linda Brown (Gerald), and Susan Binette, and her sister Sandra Carden. She is also survived by five grandchildren, Oliver Binette, Vienna Brown, Phillip Brown (Lauren), Mariah Blair and Olivia Blair, along with one great-grandchild, Javier Olea Brown.

Carol will be greatly missed and forever remembered as a loving mother with an indomitable spirit.

A private family celebration of life is planned.

In lieu of flowers the family requests donations may be made to the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy.