Almanac loses a 'goodwill ambassador': Carol Ivie photographed the events, faces of the community for 29 years Almanac loses a 'goodwill ambassador': Carol Ivie photographed the events, faces of the community for 29 years (June 08, 2005)

By Jane Knoerle

Almanac Lifestyles Editor

Carol Ann Nystuen Ivie of Menlo Park, the Almanac's staff photographer for 29 years, died June 5 at Kaiser Hospital in Redwood City of a massive heart attack. She was 76.

A memorial service for Carol will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, June 11 at Spangler Mortuaries, 650 Live Oak Ave., in Menlo Park.

Carol was a Woodside homemaker, whose hobby was taking and developing photos, when she was hired by Almanac founder Hedy Boissevain in October 1976.

She started out in the darkroom but, through the years, became the Almanac's (then known as the Country Almanac) most visible employee.

She was always on the scene with her camera: at Little League games, high school football games, May Day, the Junior Riders Rodeo, the Portola Valley picnic, Filoli garden parties, photographing the events in our communities. She gave up many of her weekends to capture the lives of others on film.

People would often stop her and say, "You took my picture 10 years ago," or "I love the photo of my son you took when he was in kindergarten."

As her co-workers will attest, Carol was pleasant, dependable and cooperative to work with. She always showed up and was always on time.

"Carol Ivie was the heart and soul of the Almanac, along with the other veterans on the staff," said Almanac Managing Editor Richard Hine.

"The Almanac will never be the same without her. She was a goodwill ambassador for the Almanac, getting to know hundreds of people in the community, their friends and family over three decades. She will be greatly missed, not only by the Almanac, but by many people in the community," he said.

In recent years, she made the transition to digital photography and learned how to transfer photos to a computer and archive them.
A small town life

Carol Nystuen was born September 3, 1928, in the college town of Northfield, Minnesota. One of three children, Carol was a tomboy and enjoyed small-town adventures with her younger brother, John.

In the summer they would rise at dawn to go fishing, then sell their catch before going home to breakfast. After completing their chores they liked to go berry-picking or swimming in the lake. In the winter they built snow forts and ice skated on the river.

In 1943 the family moved to Oroville, California. Carol graduated from Oroville High School and went on to San Jose State University.

After graduation she became a physical education teacher at Santa Clara Union High School in Santa Clara. She worked with famed swimming coach George Haines teaching swimming to grades four through 12. In the summer they ran a recreational swimming program.

As Mr. Haines' assistant on the Santa Clara Swim Team, she coached future Olympic gold medal swimmers Mark Spitz, Donna de Varona, and Don Schollander.

After her marriage to Robert Ivie, the family lived in an Eichler home in Palo Alto, and in homes in Sharon Heights, Atherton and Woodside.
Active in schools

When her children were in school, Carol was active in the Trinity Parish School (working there briefly), Crystal Springs-Uplands School and Menlo School.

For many years, she played golf at the Sharon Heights Golf and Country Club.

Along with her photography, Carol was an ardent sports fan. In later years, she was especially proud of her five grandchildren who were becoming promising athletes.

Carol treasured her Norwegian heritage. In 2004 she went back to her home town of Northfield to attend (with 220 others) a celebration of the Nystuen family's migration from Norway 150 years ago.

She was looking forward to a family reunion in July in Norway with her daughter, brother, sister, and their families. They were planning to visit the town of Nystuen and discover their "roots."

Carol is survived by her three children, Deborah Ivie of Aptos, Daniel Ivie of Menlo Park, and Rebecca Ivie of Annacortes, Washington; a brother, John Nystuen of Ann Arbor, Michigan; a sister, Patricia Harlow of Los Alamos, New Mexico; five grandchildren; and nine nieces and nephews.

The family prefers memorials be made to Wildlife Rescue, 4000 Middlefield Road, Building V, Palo Alto, CA 94303.

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