Carol Lynn Szeyko

Carol Lynn (Hamilton) Szeyko was born on October 29th, 1942. She passed away at the age of 76 on Monday, June 3rd, 2019 with her son and daughter by her side. After bravely battling many ailments, buoyed by support from friends and family, she could no longer carry on the fight and is finally resting peacefully. She was preceded in death by her husband Dr. Gregory H. Szeyko; and her parents , George Alexander Hamilton and Florence Edna (Moeske) Hamilton. She is survived by her son Gregory H. Szeyko III, her daughter Dr. Larissa A. Szeyko, her son-in-law Dr. David B. Brooks, and her grandchildren Caitlin R. Brooks and Ethan A. Brooks. She is also survived by her brother George A. Hamilton Jr. and her niece Maggie Hamilton.

Carol was born at Samaritan Hospital in Troy, New York just outside of Albany. After graduating from Knickerbacker Junior High School and then from Lansingburgh Senior High School, she graduated from Albany Medical College School Of Nursing in the fall of 1963 and completed her training at the Albany Medical Center Hospital where she continued to work through the 70's. There she ran the Emergency Room in the position of Head Nurse. While working at Albany Medical Center Hospital she met her husband, who was then working on his Internship. They married in October of 1972. After moving to Delmar, a suburb of Albany, and still working as Head Nurse in the ER she had her first child, a daughter. In 1976 she retired from nursing and moved with her family to El Paso. Two years later her husband established an independent practice with her as his office manager and in 1979 she had her second child, a son. For the next several years she devoted much of her time to her children. Although she no longer had time to sing and play guitar as she had loved to do before she had children, she still enjoyed being an avid reader, and an amateur photographer and seamstress.

Once her children entered elementary school she turned her efforts to volunteering with the El Paso Independent School District, working at the Mesita Elementary Library where she helped to rebind books and was recognized for her volunteer activities. From the late 80's through the mid-90's she participated in Gold Rush, a yearly charity event to support Providence Memorial Community Hospital. During the later 90's and early 2000's she helped with charity efforts sponsored by the Woman's Club of El Paso.

In 2003 she again supported her husband's practice by becoming his bookkeeper. She enjoyed reuniting with her children while they were living in Arizona. In 2007 and 2009 her grandchildren were born and she was able to share that joy with her husband until his passing in 2012. During the years that followed she left gifts for her grandchildren "from Grandpa" in a repurposed mailbox in the backyard for them to find, to help keep his memory alive.

Once she was no longer able to formally volunteer, she helped to support various efforts to provide care to those who were less fortunate. Throughout her adult life she felt very strongly about conservation, which was likely due in part to her being a young girl during the depression. She was compelled to recycle before recycling was fashionable and she was interviewed by the local news to spread public awareness of the importance of these efforts. Even in her later years she still enjoyed reading and the beauty of nature, and she instilled in her children an appreciation of the simple things in life as well as the value of doing things of one's own accord. She always missed being a nurse, but even into her last days she continued to pass on stories and lessons from her life, many of those from her time working in the Emergency Room. She was a storyteller at heart and also loved hearing stories from people who she met. She was loving and wise, always open minded, and always willing to consider both sides. She will be dearly missed by her family and those who knew her.

In lieu of flowers a memorial gift may be made to your local school or public library, the Woman's Club of El Paso, or to a charity of your choosing.

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www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/el-paso-tx/carol-szeyko-8736860