Roberta Carol Houghton

7/11/1950—7/5/2026

Carol, the only daughter of her father, Kuger Bud Keyser and mother, Elizabeth Anne Turney Keyser, traveled with them and her 3 older brothers Don, Jim and Leslie, throughout the Western US in her youth, following oil exploration—Bud was a geophysicist for Sun Oil Company. After her younger brother Clifford was born the family settled in Dallas, Texas, where at 16 years old she met Rod, with whom she became friends working together as pages in a local library branch. After graduating with honors from High School, she joined him at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas, where she majored in Cultural Anthropology. They were married on 7/3/69. When he graduated, she moved with him to San Antonio, Texas, supporting them by working at the University of Texas Health Science Center Medical Library.

After Rod graduated, they moved to Bernalillo, New Mexico, and Abi was born. Within a year the new family moved to the Village of Placitas, while Rod continued his residency at the University of New Mexico, and established a practice in Albuquerque, during which Adam was born, completing the family, for whom Carol became the home creator and nurturer, filled with love, education, adventure, fun, and her own spiritual awakening. She studied shamanism and traditional ritual with Joseph Rael-Beautiful Painted Arrow; became a disciple of Paramahansa Yogananda; communed with Bartholomew; became friends and explored alternate realities of love and freedom with George Greer and Requa Tolbert’s research group; and experienced her own personal awakening in God in a vision she manifested on a painted tee pee, assisted in the process by her friend and local artist, Jan Brooks.

She spent 18 years in New Mexico, then moved her family to Clayton, Georgia in Rabun County, remodeling and building a house and home in Wolffork Valley. The 4 years there she claims as a peek of Self-expression, creativity, social and environmental community, and a flourishing of her avocation in providing individual therapy as an All-Faith Spiritual Counsellor.

Four years later she moved the family to Johnson City, Tennessee, following Rod’s career path. After the children grew up and moved, it was in their Round Tree house she found respite from the lifelong burden of her physical ailments. Spending her time with Rodney, her beloved caregiver Curtis, devoted older brother Don and Rod’s brother Drue.

The brightest light in Carol’s last 19 years has been her grandson, Lucian, son of Adam and Candace. She was filled with joy at his coming into the world, and her own suffering alleviated by his yearly visits from his home in Seatle for holidays and vacations over the years. The few times she left her bed to venture into the house was for these events. She endured in no small part to see him grown and on his way to independence and fulfillment of his dreams. She marveled at his ability to love and support her whenever they interacted, and treasured these moments, recalling them with pleasure and awe at his youthful optimism and strength. She followed him in his online presence, requested pictures which she often perused, praising his accomplishments. She was assured that whatever difficulties he encountered, he would prevail and triumph, never doubting the strength of his will and character. After their last video visit she remarked at how confident, verbally and socially adept, and how freely expressive he was of his life’s goals and love for her and his family—herself content and reassured by his mature bearing—her Beloved Lucian.

On July 5, 2026, 2 days after her 57th Wedding Anniversary, she courageously freed herself from “not the best body for this life.”

The family requests, if so moved, to honor her with flowers. Monetary donations may be made to the Johnson City Shady Oaks Garden Club Flowers of Hope Program,PO Box 4108, Johnson City, TN 37602.