Carolyn Curran Stafford

Carolyn Curran Stafford passed away on January 25, 2015. She was surrounded by loving family and friends. Carolyn was born in San Angelo, Texas in 1944, the eldest of ten children. She graduated from Catherine Labouré School of Nursing in Boston before moving to Athens, Georgia to earn her Master’s of Nursing while tending to students at UGA’s Infirmary. In 1970, she took a job in Atlanta, where she gave compassionate care to patients at Grady, Emory and D.C.I. Atlanta, helping to pioneer kidney transplants for thirty years. She volunteered for years at the Atlanta Battered Women’s Shelter. In 2001, she moved with her husband to Fernandina Beach, Florida where she specialized in geriatric medicine. She is survived by her husband, Frank Stafford, children , Kevin Finnegan, Frank Stafford and Sarah Mercado, their spouses, Mary, Amy and A.J., seven grandchildren, Erin, Kelly, Harrison, Dyana, Axxel, Scout and Bella, and one great grandchild Nena. She is survived as well by her mother Celia, eight brothers and sisters, Mary Anne Hudnall, Dede Curran, Ranger Curran, Tere Clarkson, Sheila Curran, John Curran, Mike Curran, and Cathy Dorfman as well as many devoted in-laws and nieces and nephews, as well as dear and loyal friends in Boston, Denver, Kansas City, Atlanta and Fernandina Beach. Carolyn loved art, fashion, design, pottery, travel and the beach. She was a devoted daughter, mother, wife, sister, friend and nurse. Among those she comforted were her mother-in-law, Katharine Stafford, brother, Tom and father, Arthur Ranger Curran, before their deaths. She will be missed for her expansive heart, keen intellect and tolerant acceptance of any and all who crossed her path. To celebrate Carolyn’s life, her family asks that you carry forward kindness, open your mind and hearts to treasure others, and enjoy life’s comforts with gratitude. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Georgia Transplant Foundation (www.gatransplant.org).