Carolyn Ruth Zeigler

Carolyn was born January 10th, 1943 in Alton, Illinois, the eldest daughter of Paul and Virginia (Campbell) Huston. She grew up in Illinois, Louisiana, and San Bernardino, CA.

She attended UC Berkeley with her first husband, Richard Marshall, with whom she had two sons, Stephen and Kevin. When the marriage ended, she raised the boys in Martinez, CA while studying early childhood development at Cal State Hayward (East Bay).  After earning her Bachelor’s degree, she studied real estate at Diablo Valley College where she met her second husband Foster Zeigler in late 1976. They married in the redwoods of Santa Cruz the following year and moved into their longtime home in Walnut Creek, CA, where their daughter Tanya and son John Paul were born. They would live in the same house for 47 years.

Carolyn and Foster were entrepreneurs, starting a Danish bakery in Danville, CA, and renting out motorhomes in a pre-car-sharing era.  However, real estate was Carolyn’s true passion that she would pursue for the rest of her life, selling her last home at the age of 80. She never thought of it as a job. She had a deep respect for families who craved the solid foundation that home ownership could provide. She helped countless families to purchase and sell their homes throughout their lives.

With her sunny smile, Carolyn enjoyed conversations with new people, road trips in the California countryside, and all family visits. Her greatest love was welcoming family at their house with a home-cooked meal or dessert. Through the years there were thousands of cookies made, tons of scalloped potatoes, and a cake of dreams for her children’s birthdays, always followed by a throat-biting Coca-Cola at the table.

Her positivity was as stubborn as it was infectious, and she educated her kids with that “bright-side-of-life” spirit. She valued education highly and always sought to listen more than she spoke. It made her the wisest in the room.

Carolyn is preceded in death by her parents, Virginia and Paul, and her dear brother Dennis Huston.

She is survived by her husband Foster, her children, Stephen, Kevin, Tanya and John, her five grandchildren, Katie, Kristina, Sophia, Vincent, and Joey, her sister Ginger, her sister-in-law Pam, her nieces, nephews, and other family and friends whom she loved dearly.

A celebration of Carolyn’s life will take place on Saturday, October 11th from 11am-1pm at Walnut Creek Presbyterian Church (1801 Lacassie Ave).

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation