Isabelle Begg McCrosson Luedecke, a beloved mother, grandmother, and friend, died peacefully in the company of family on May 17, 2012, in Boulder. She was 90. Isabelle was born in Oakland, California, in 1921, and spent her childhood in Port-au-Prince, Haiti and Honolulu, Hawaii. After raising three children, she lived in Europe and then Texas before moving to Boulder in 1998. Isabelle was known for her kindness, elegance, and good humor, and will be greatly missed.
In 1923, Isabelle’s parents embarked to Haiti with their three children, John, Isabelle and Doris, to manage sugar cane plantations. Just two years later, when Isabelle was four, her mother died of malaria in Port-au-Prince and the children were sent to Honolulu where they lived with their half sister Anne and her husband Uncle Bobby Baine.
In 1939, Isabelle graduated from Roosevelt High School and in August 1941 married Air Force officer Richard Thurman Carlisle in Honolulu and later that year witnessed the attack on Pearl Harbor. Isabelle and Dick Carlisle had three children, Richard, Cynthia, and Dara. After WWII, Isabelle moved with her family to several southern states, Washington, D.C., Hawaii and then Colorado and Ohio. She and Carlisle divorced in 1964.
Setting off on her own, Isabelle moved to Kentucky and worked in the English Department at the University of Kentucky in Lexington. There she also worked with the celebrated man of letters Wendell Berry transcribing his book A Place on Earth. However, Isabelle always had a passion for cooking and in 1967 moved to Europe, where she spent time in Italy and Germany and then attended the Cordon Bleu’s most intensive three-year program in Paris. At the Cordon Bleu, she earned its most advanced degree -the Grand Diplome- in 1974. Isabelle’s Paris years were spent living with and cooking for French screen legend Claude Dauphin and his wife, Ruda. There she prepared dinners and joined international dinner guests like Jackie Onassis and novelists James Jones and Irwin Shaw.
Isabelle returned to the United States in 1975 where she collaborated with restaurateurs in Colorado Springs and Boulder and helped raise her grandchildren Dara and Baine. In 1985, Isabelle married retired Air Force Major General Alvin R. Luedecke, head of the Atomic Energy Commission under Eisenhower and former president of Texas A&M, and in the words of Wendell Berry, “went plumb off to Texas.” She lived with Luedecke outside of Bryan, College Station, Texas, and in San Antonio for 12 years until his death in 1998.
Since 1998, after complications from brain surgery that left her disabled, Isabelle lived in Boulder, entertaining the staff at Frasier Meadows Manor, and creating beautiful watercolors despite her impaired vision and dexterity. In 2006 she shared the first place award at the “Memories in the Making” Alzheimer’s art auction for a watercolor portrait, “Dara.” While her faculties were compromised, memories of her youth in Hawaii never left her nor did her trademark optimism and appreciation for a good joke.
Everyone loved Isabelle, all over the world. To those she touched Isabelle will remain a model for how to live, for her pluck and beauty, for the bravery of her new beginnings, for her generosity, selflessness, and devotion to others, always for her graciousness, and for her resilience, making gourmet lemonade out of every lemon. For presenting whatever the moment offered as a beautiful gift. Or, as she would say, Voila!
Isabelle’s siblings, John, Doris, and Anne, predeceased her. She is survived by her children, Richard and Dara Carlisle, both of Monterey, Kentucky, Cindy Carlisle of Boulder, her son in law Baine Kerr of Boulder, her grandchildren Dara and Baine Kerr, her niece Joan McCrosson, nephew David McCrosson and three step-children.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to Partners in Health, pih.org.
In 1923, Isabelle’s parents embarked to Haiti with their three children, John, Isabelle and Doris, to manage sugar cane plantations. Just two years later, when Isabelle was four, her mother died of malaria in Port-au-Prince and the children were sent to Honolulu where they lived with their half sister Anne and her husband Uncle Bobby Baine.
In 1939, Isabelle graduated from Roosevelt High School and in August 1941 married Air Force officer Richard Thurman Carlisle in Honolulu and later that year witnessed the attack on Pearl Harbor. Isabelle and Dick Carlisle had three children, Richard, Cynthia, and Dara. After WWII, Isabelle moved with her family to several southern states, Washington, D.C., Hawaii and then Colorado and Ohio. She and Carlisle divorced in 1964.
Setting off on her own, Isabelle moved to Kentucky and worked in the English Department at the University of Kentucky in Lexington. There she also worked with the celebrated man of letters Wendell Berry transcribing his book A Place on Earth. However, Isabelle always had a passion for cooking and in 1967 moved to Europe, where she spent time in Italy and Germany and then attended the Cordon Bleu’s most intensive three-year program in Paris. At the Cordon Bleu, she earned its most advanced degree -the Grand Diplome- in 1974. Isabelle’s Paris years were spent living with and cooking for French screen legend Claude Dauphin and his wife, Ruda. There she prepared dinners and joined international dinner guests like Jackie Onassis and novelists James Jones and Irwin Shaw.
Isabelle returned to the United States in 1975 where she collaborated with restaurateurs in Colorado Springs and Boulder and helped raise her grandchildren Dara and Baine. In 1985, Isabelle married retired Air Force Major General Alvin R. Luedecke, head of the Atomic Energy Commission under Eisenhower and former president of Texas A&M, and in the words of Wendell Berry, “went plumb off to Texas.” She lived with Luedecke outside of Bryan, College Station, Texas, and in San Antonio for 12 years until his death in 1998.
Since 1998, after complications from brain surgery that left her disabled, Isabelle lived in Boulder, entertaining the staff at Frasier Meadows Manor, and creating beautiful watercolors despite her impaired vision and dexterity. In 2006 she shared the first place award at the “Memories in the Making” Alzheimer’s art auction for a watercolor portrait, “Dara.” While her faculties were compromised, memories of her youth in Hawaii never left her nor did her trademark optimism and appreciation for a good joke.
Everyone loved Isabelle, all over the world. To those she touched Isabelle will remain a model for how to live, for her pluck and beauty, for the bravery of her new beginnings, for her generosity, selflessness, and devotion to others, always for her graciousness, and for her resilience, making gourmet lemonade out of every lemon. For presenting whatever the moment offered as a beautiful gift. Or, as she would say, Voila!
Isabelle’s siblings, John, Doris, and Anne, predeceased her. She is survived by her children, Richard and Dara Carlisle, both of Monterey, Kentucky, Cindy Carlisle of Boulder, her son in law Baine Kerr of Boulder, her grandchildren Dara and Baine Kerr, her niece Joan McCrosson, nephew David McCrosson and three step-children.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to Partners in Health, pih.org.
Isabelle Begg McCrosson Luedecke, a beloved mother, grandmother, and friend, died peacefully in the company of family on May 17, 2012, in Boulder. She was 90. Isabelle was born in Oakland, California, in 1921, and spent her childhood in Port-au-Prince, Haiti and Honolulu, Hawaii. After raising three children, she lived in Europe and then Texas before moving to Boulder in 1998. Isabelle was known for her kindness, elegance, and good humor, and will be greatly missed.
In 1923, Isabelle’s parents embarked to Haiti with their three children, John, Isabelle and Doris, to manage sugar cane plantations. Just two years later, when Isabelle was four, her mother died of malaria in Port-au-Prince and the children were sent to Honolulu where they lived with their half sister Anne and her husband Uncle Bobby Baine.
In 1939, Isabelle graduated from Roosevelt High School and in August 1941 married Air Force officer Richard Thurman Carlisle in Honolulu and later that year witnessed the attack on Pearl Harbor. Isabelle and Dick Carlisle had three children, Richard, Cynthia, and Dara. After WWII, Isabelle moved with her family to several southern states, Washington, D.C., Hawaii and then Colorado and Ohio. She and Carlisle divorced in 1964.
Setting off on her own, Isabelle moved to Kentucky and worked in the English Department at the University of Kentucky in Lexington. There she also worked with the celebrated man of letters Wendell Berry transcribing his book A Place on Earth. However, Isabelle always had a passion for cooking and in 1967 moved to Europe, where she spent time in Italy and Germany and then attended the Cordon Bleu’s most intensive three-year program in Paris. At the Cordon Bleu, she earned its most advanced degree -the Grand Diplome- in 1974. Isabelle’s Paris years were spent living with and cooking for French screen legend Claude Dauphin and his wife, Ruda. There she prepared dinners and joined international dinner guests like Jackie Onassis and novelists James Jones and Irwin Shaw.
Isabelle returned to the United States in 1975 where she collaborated with restaurateurs in Colorado Springs and Boulder and helped raise her grandchildren Dara and Baine. In 1985, Isabelle married retired Air Force Major General Alvin R. Luedecke, head of the Atomic Energy Commission under Eisenhower and former president of Texas A&M, and in the words of Wendell Berry, “went plumb off to Texas.” She lived with Luedecke outside of Bryan, College Station, Texas, and in San Antonio for 12 years until his death in 1998.
Since 1998, after complications from brain surgery that left her disabled, Isabelle lived in Boulder, entertaining the staff at Frasier Meadows Manor, and creating beautiful watercolors despite her impaired vision and dexterity. In 2006 she shared the first place award at the “Memories in the Making” Alzheimer’s art auction for a watercolor portrait, “Dara.” While her faculties were compromised, memories of her youth in Hawaii never left her nor did her trademark optimism and appreciation for a good joke.
Everyone loved Isabelle, all over the world. To those she touched Isabelle will remain a model for how to live, for her pluck and beauty, for the bravery of her new beginnings, for her generosity, selflessness, and devotion to others, always for her graciousness, and for her resilience, making gourmet lemonade out of every lemon. For presenting whatever the moment offered as a beautiful gift. Or, as she would say, Voila!
Isabelle’s siblings, John, Doris, and Anne, predeceased her. She is survived by her children, Richard and Dara Carlisle, both of Monterey, Kentucky, Cindy Carlisle of Boulder, her son in law Baine Kerr of Boulder, her grandchildren Dara and Baine Kerr, her niece Joan McCrosson, nephew David McCrosson and three step-children.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to Partners in Health, pih.org.
In 1923, Isabelle’s parents embarked to Haiti with their three children, John, Isabelle and Doris, to manage sugar cane plantations. Just two years later, when Isabelle was four, her mother died of malaria in Port-au-Prince and the children were sent to Honolulu where they lived with their half sister Anne and her husband Uncle Bobby Baine.
In 1939, Isabelle graduated from Roosevelt High School and in August 1941 married Air Force officer Richard Thurman Carlisle in Honolulu and later that year witnessed the attack on Pearl Harbor. Isabelle and Dick Carlisle had three children, Richard, Cynthia, and Dara. After WWII, Isabelle moved with her family to several southern states, Washington, D.C., Hawaii and then Colorado and Ohio. She and Carlisle divorced in 1964.
Setting off on her own, Isabelle moved to Kentucky and worked in the English Department at the University of Kentucky in Lexington. There she also worked with the celebrated man of letters Wendell Berry transcribing his book A Place on Earth. However, Isabelle always had a passion for cooking and in 1967 moved to Europe, where she spent time in Italy and Germany and then attended the Cordon Bleu’s most intensive three-year program in Paris. At the Cordon Bleu, she earned its most advanced degree -the Grand Diplome- in 1974. Isabelle’s Paris years were spent living with and cooking for French screen legend Claude Dauphin and his wife, Ruda. There she prepared dinners and joined international dinner guests like Jackie Onassis and novelists James Jones and Irwin Shaw.
Isabelle returned to the United States in 1975 where she collaborated with restaurateurs in Colorado Springs and Boulder and helped raise her grandchildren Dara and Baine. In 1985, Isabelle married retired Air Force Major General Alvin R. Luedecke, head of the Atomic Energy Commission under Eisenhower and former president of Texas A&M, and in the words of Wendell Berry, “went plumb off to Texas.” She lived with Luedecke outside of Bryan, College Station, Texas, and in San Antonio for 12 years until his death in 1998.
Since 1998, after complications from brain surgery that left her disabled, Isabelle lived in Boulder, entertaining the staff at Frasier Meadows Manor, and creating beautiful watercolors despite her impaired vision and dexterity. In 2006 she shared the first place award at the “Memories in the Making” Alzheimer’s art auction for a watercolor portrait, “Dara.” While her faculties were compromised, memories of her youth in Hawaii never left her nor did her trademark optimism and appreciation for a good joke.
Everyone loved Isabelle, all over the world. To those she touched Isabelle will remain a model for how to live, for her pluck and beauty, for the bravery of her new beginnings, for her generosity, selflessness, and devotion to others, always for her graciousness, and for her resilience, making gourmet lemonade out of every lemon. For presenting whatever the moment offered as a beautiful gift. Or, as she would say, Voila!
Isabelle’s siblings, John, Doris, and Anne, predeceased her. She is survived by her children, Richard and Dara Carlisle, both of Monterey, Kentucky, Cindy Carlisle of Boulder, her son in law Baine Kerr of Boulder, her grandchildren Dara and Baine Kerr, her niece Joan McCrosson, nephew David McCrosson and three step-children.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to Partners in Health, pih.org.
Family Members
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Advertisement
