Kristin Lee Carleton

Kristin Lee Carleton, 45, passed on March 23, 2017 in Keller, TX. A dearly loved mother, sister, and daughter, Kristin was born on July 27, 1971 in Lovell, WY and spent her childhood roaming the wilderness with her brother and partner-in-crime, Eric. She attended Lovell High School and then earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from Montana State University, a Master’s degree in Science in Nursing from the University of New Mexico, and a Doctorate in Nursing Practice from Chatham University. Kristin devoted herself to the care of others as a Family Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner for adolescent and pre-adolescent children, and she was passionate about advancing her field, having served on nursing boards and most recently, teaching as an adjunct faculty member at Texas Christian University.

Though predeceased by her father, Robert Carleton, in 2008, Kristin is survived by the love of her life, her daughter, Grace Elizabeth Carleton Giese (Gracie Bean); her brother Eric and his wife, Patty; her mother and stepfather, Barbara and Boots Shumway; her stepsiblings, Cresta Peterson and Nathan Shumway; and countless relatives, friends, and colleagues.

Kristin was an enthusiast of life – of her daughter, of helping others, and of the myriad things that intrigued her: yoga, paleontology, cooking, reading, long baths with good wine, flyfishing, all things Anglophile (crikey!), and a golden doodle named Moneypenny. No adventure went untried, no bend in the trail unexplored, and no fellow traveler left unchanged as she made each moment a grand escapade as unique, as hilarious, as soulful, and as joyous as she was.

We will miss her feistiness, her joie de vivre, her farfetched ideas that were always well worth it. Though it is impossible to fill her absence, we will remember all the irreplaceable memories she left us, wish we had just one more road trip, meal, conversation, or joke, and smile (and perhaps even give a big ole yeee haaaawww).

We will be seeing you, Kristin, in the stories and laughter of friends, in the meandering streams and mountains, and most profoundly, in your exceptional daughter. We will be seeing you again because this just wasn’t time enough.