Olivia Ayres Carleton

Strong. Creative. Bright and beautiful. Olivia.

Strong. Tackling the trails at Moss Rock. ENOing at Ruffner. Going on ATV rides with dad in the woods outside her back door. Or speaking up on behalf of those who were hurting in a game as tough as Lacrosse. Her strength oozed out in impressive streams of encouragement and laughter.

When we hike these trails going forward, we’ll see her this way and be encouraged, and laugh a lot.

Creative. She loved painting and being creative. As a little, we would find her building elaborate cardboard and duct tape structures for her beanie babies. Bowling? Ferris Wheel? There’s no activity she couldn’t provide for her babies. We’re confident this eventually led to her being part of her high school Engineering Academy. In 2nd grade, she wrote and illustrated a 6-part Children’s book series about an adventurous cat named Buttercup.

As we move forward, we’ll continue to create for others in our work, in our community, in our churches, and we’ll love them in this same Olivia-creative, life-giving spirit.

Bright. She earned an engineering scholarship to Auburn, and she adored her time there, relishing the college life and friends. It was here, during what was to be her brightest years, that her darkest years began, or at least became known to us. Mental health illness crept upon her – and all of us – like clouds rolling in before the storm.

That five-year storm of internal torment has been lifted for our sweet Olivia. And we’ll smile, going forward, because we know that her clouds have been replaced with the light of heaven the battle won. The party of Heaven begun.

Beautiful. Artist. Animal lover. She loved clever and creative stories like Star Wars, Harry Potter, Calvin & Hobbes and Sponge Bob Square Pants. She excelled at Super Mario. She made her spaces beautiful. And she made our family beautiful. And she’s making heaven beautiful - even today.

She arrived in her new home on July 22, 2022. Just 24 way-too-short years after her birthday on November 7, 1997.

Speaking of birthdays, she shared a birthday with her dad, Randy. And you can count on us sharing her birthday every year with Randy as we always have. In 2022, we’ll drum up the courage to celebrate her first birthday in heaven. Confident that our party here, and her party there, will somehow connect our worlds like an olive branch extending between us both.

A native of Birmingham, Alabama, Olivia is survived by her parents Randy and Vicki Carleton, her sister Elise Carleton Cowgill (husband George) and a bear hug’s worth of aunts, uncles, cousins and friends. She graduated from Spain Park High School and attended Auburn University.

A Celebration of Olivia’s life will be Wednesday at 2 pm at Southern Heritage Funeral Home. Visitation begins at 1 pm. As Olivia was a fierce lover of animals, in lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to Two By Two Animal Rescue.