Carol Koelsch Appleton

Carol Koelsch Appleton, an artist and wife of former University of Redlands President James R. Appleton, died on Friday, Jan. 13. She was 85.

Born in 1937 in Wisconsin to Ann and Ivan Koelsch, she was the oldest of three daughters. She earned a degree in art education at Wheaton College in Illinois, where she met Jim Appleton. They were married in 1959.

They moved to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, where her husband was a U.S. Army officer. She taught art in public schools.

In 1960, they moved to East Lansing, Michigan, where her husband earned his Ph.D. at Michigan State. He became senior administrator at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan.

She is survived by her husband, son Steve and his wife Agnieska and grandson Janis; son Jon and his wife Tracey and their children Kelsey and Jakob; daughter Jennifer Appleton Gootman and her husband Marek and their children Saige, Vance and Kinzly; Steve’s former wife and mother of Janis, Inga Funck; two sisters, Sharon Mason, and Merry Jane Orwig and her husband Jeff; and her husband’s five siblings.

A celebration of life will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 4, at the First Presbyterian Church, with a light reception at the church to follow.