Carole Louise Rivera
October 19, 1954– November 13, 2004
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Carole Louise Rivera October 19, 1954– November 13, 2004 |
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Carole
Louise Rivera, age 50 of Chamblee died November 13, 2004 as a result of
a bicycle accident on October 5th in Atlanta.
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CECIL CROSS II The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Published on: 12/03/04 Whether running the Boston Marathon, bungee jumping, or rafting the Grand Canyon, Carole Louise Rivera lived for adventure. "She had this insurmountable amount of energy," said her former boyfriend of eight years, Andy Carr of Alpharetta. "She was never tired." In addition to running competitively, Carole Louise Rivera enjoyed pastimes such as white-water rafting and scuba diving. Ms. Rivera loved to run. The New York City Marathon, Boston Marathon, Peachtree Road Race and Y2K Millenium Marathon in New Zealand are but a few of the many races she completed. Mr. Carr, registrar for the Atlanta Track Club, says that on average, Ms. Rivera ran 30 to 40 miles per week. "She was constantly training for a marathon or triathlon," he says. "She was training to compete in the Ironman New Zealand Triathlon when she passed away." The memorial service for Ms. Rivera, 50, who died Nov. 13 from injuries suffered in a bicycle accident, is 2 p.m. today at St. Martin in the Fields Episcopal Church. The body was cremated. Wages & Sons Funeral Home, Stone Mountain, is in charge of the arrangements. A native of Washington, D.C., Ms. Rivera began her 27-year career as a federal employee working for the Food and Drug Administration in Maryland. In 1991, she was transferred to Atlanta, where she focused on preventing women from smoking as an employee for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Mr. Carr said that her craving to take part in the 1996 Olympics played a big part in her move. "She was the main volunteer for the South Korean delegation," Mr. Carr said. "She wanted to enjoy the festivities but spent most of her time shuffling South Korean dignitaries around Atlanta." Ms. Rivera was awarded the Road Runners Club of America National Volunteer award for working more than 200 hours as a volunteer coordinator. She also moonlighted as a swim instructor at the Ashford-Dunwoody YMCA. "She had a gift," said Cindy Belisle of Atlanta, who enrolled both of her daughters, now 5 and 8, in Ms. Rivera's classes two years ago. "She would act goofy in the water; the kids would laugh at her, then do just what she said. Neither one of them knew how to swim when she got them. But now, both of them can." When she wasn't training or volunteering, Ms. Rivera tried her hand at other adventurous hobbies, such as white-water rafting the Grand Canyon, bungee jumping in Australia and scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef, also in Australia. "She crammed more living into 50 years than most of us will ever cram into 100," said longtime co-worker Mary Schauer of Atlanta. Survivors include a brother, Jay Crutchfield of Kulsheim, Germany. |
