Carolyn Midkiff Strange

Carolyn taught her children and grandchildren compassion by words and examples. She herself was loved, admired, respected, and cherished by nearly everyone who got to know her. She often expressed bafflement when invited to serve on boards and committees, but those who knew her recognized her wisdom, level-headedness, optimism, generosity, humor, and feistiness.

Lillian Carolyn Midkiff was the youngest of four children, born on April 16, 1937, in Midland, Texas, to Naomi (née Mabry) and Tyson Midkiff. She spent her childhood in Midland, Rankin, and Kerrville, graduating from Kerrville’s Tivy High School in 1955. She especially enjoyed weekends on the family ranch with her father as a young girl, where she helped with the animals and swam with her cousins in the water tanks fed by windmill-operated pumps. Midkiff family reunions attended by seemingly hundreds of cousins were events that—years later—Carolyn, her husband, and children would greatly enjoy.

Carolyn attended one year at Hardin Simmons University, then transferred to Rice University in Houston, graduating with a B.A. in English in 1960. She met the love of her life, Jimmy Francis (Jim) Strange, at Rice, and, after some fitful starts, the two dated, became engaged, and married in Rankin on August 19, 1960.

Carolyn's and Jim’s eldest children, Mary Elizabeth and James Riley, were born in Kerrville, while Jim taught at Shriner Institute and Carolyn taught high school geometry, her very favorite subject. The family then moved to New Haven, Connecticut, and on to various towns in New Jersey as Jim did graduate work. In these early years Carolyn worked at Esso Research and taught at a Montessori kindergarten. Katherine Alexandra and Joanna Carissa were born after the family moved to Tampa, Florida in 1972.

Despite Carolyn’s declaration that she did not want to be the wife of a minister, Jim was ordained in the American and National Baptist Conventions and founded and pastored a church in New Haven, Connecticut. Carolyn herself became active in many different ministries in New Jersey and Florida.

Carolyn’s and Jim’s commitment to their children's education led them and other parents to found the Montessori Children’s House (now operating as the Red Oaks School) in Morristown, New Jersey and PAGE Academy (Parents' Association for Gifted Education) in Tampa. Carolyn taught at both schools and served as PAGE’s Principal from 1985 through 1988.

Carolyn, Jim, Mary Elizabeth, and James Riley spent the 1970–71 school year in Israel, when Jim received the Montgomery Fellowship at the W.F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research in east Jerusalem. It was there that Carolyn began growing lasting relationships in the archaeological community and with both Israelis and Palestinians of all faiths. She became a staff member of digs at sites in the Upper and Lower Galilee for more than 40 years. She was Mater Castrorum (“Mother of the Camps”) at the sites of Sepphoris and Shikhin in the 1990s and 2000s, being responsible for just about every aspect of the camp, including bringing “second breakfast” to the crew in the field. That breakfast became so well known that Israeli archaeologists began to schedule their visits to the site to coincide with the meal.

After Jim’s death in March of 2018, Carolyn joined the Board of Trustees of ASOR (the American Schools of Oriental Research; now the American Society of Overseas Research) to complete Jim’s term, and she remained to become an agent of progress and fundraising for the organization. She served on the Development and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committees, frequently encouraging ASOR to “aim high” and to “be positive.” She gave challenge gifts to purchase the building in Alexandria, Virginia that is now the James F. Strange Center where ASOR is housed, and to establish ASOR’s BIPOC Endowment in response to the murder of George Floyd. Guided by her passion for social justice and anti-racism, she championed and donated to many similar scholarship and educational initiatives at ASOR and at USF in Tampa. For the past several years, Carolyn arrived at the ASOR annual meeting two days early to help the office staff set up for the meeting, and often volunteered at the Help Desk during the meeting.

In the Department of Religious Studies at the University of South Florida, where Jim taught for 40 years, Carolyn donated funds to found the James F. Strange Chair in Religious Studies, the James Strange Endowed Scholarship Fund, and the James Strange Operating fund. In the College of Arts and Sciences, she provided the founding gift for the Racial Justice Initiative and the Racial Justice Chair. In addition, she supported nearly a dozen other funds, the USF Botanical Gardens, and WUSF.

Similarly, Carolyn became a generous donor to the Albright Institute in Jerusalem, where she and many members of the family (including, much later, her daughter Katherine, son-in-law Aaron, and grandson Nathaniel) had spent many happy months. She supported their Pandemic Relief fund, Capital Campaign, and funds in memory of James F. Strange, Norma Dever, Vivan Bull, and Elizabeth Strange. At the time of her death she was supporting efforts to fully renovate the AIAR campus in east Jerusalem and name it for Jim.

Carolyn’s Christian faith was strong and deep, and she expressed it through her personal relationships and her many years of devotion to Bayshore Baptist Church in Tampa, Florida, where she was an active member and deacon and to which she donated generously. She especially admired the good work being done at Faith Cafe and First Nesters. Carolyn’s faith is what moved her to donate to organizations working to help impoverished and struggling people, to environmental causes, and to the causes of equity—particularly racial equity—and inclusion.

Carolyn was preceded in death by her husband Jim, her siblings Joe Midkiff, Bill Midkiff, and Alice Roth, and her eldest child, Elizabeth Strange. We who remain to cherish her legacy of love and encouragement are Elizabeth’s husband, Chris Bertaut, with their sons James Maarten and Carl Ashu; James Riley Strange and his wife, Laura, with their daughter and son-in-law Sarah and Lawrence Pugliese and their daughter, Elizabeth Rose (Carolyn’s great-granddaughter); Katherine and her husband Aaron Burke with their sons Nathaniel and Ian; Joanna and her husband Jonathan Tischio with their son Leo; many beloved cousins, nieces, nephews, and their families; and very many friends around the world who feel like family.

We will celebrate Carolyn’s life on November 16, 2024, at 4:00 pm at Bayshore Baptist Church, 3111 W. Morrison Avenue, Tampa, FL 33629. Reception to follow.

In lieu of flowers, we invite you to donate to one of the funds that Carolyn supported:

● The naming fund in memory of Carolyn Midkiff Strange and James F. Strange at the W.F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research in Jerusalem: aiar.org/centennial-campaign. Select the button “Donate in Memory of Carolyn Strange.”

● The Mary Elizabeth Strange Endowment of ASOR: asor.org/donate. Choose “Mary Elizabeth Strange Endowment” from the drop-down menu or type in the memo field.

● The University of South Florida James F. Strange Endowed Scholarship (fund #426103) or Racial Justice Initiative (fund #420249). To make a gift online visit: usf.to/JamesFStrangeEndowedScholarship or usf.to/RacialJusticeInitiative. Checks can be made payable to the USF Foundation and sent to USF CAS Development, 4202 E. Fowler Ave., CPR 107, Tampa, FL 33620. Please include the fund # in the memo.

● Bayshore Baptist Church: pushpay.com/g/bayshorebaptistchurch. Select “Memorial/Honor” from the drop-down menu, and type “Carolyn M. Strange” in the Memo field.