Caroline Keller Loughlin

Loughlin, Caroline Keller formerly of St. Louis, died at her home in Cambridge, Massachusetts on October 7. She was 72. Mrs. Loughlin was born in New Orleans in 1940, the daughter of Charles Keller, Jr. and Rosa Freeman Keller. She graduated from Isidore Newman High School in 1957, won a National Merit Scholarship award, and graduated from Cornell University in 1961 with a degree in mathematics. In 1962, she married her Cornell classmate Philip H. Loughlin III, and the couple settled in St. Louis in 1965. Mrs. Loughlin volunteered for almost thirty years on projects connected with Saint Louis' Forest Park, including twentyeight years at the Saint Louis Zoo where she was an archivist, historian and book buyer. She also served as an officer and director of the support group, Zoo Friends. In addition, she served on two mayoral Forest Park master plan committees. Her research on the history of the park with Catherine Anderson led to the book Forest Park, published in 1986 jointly by the Junior League of St. Louis and the University of Missouri. The book was a definitive history of the park and became the second-best seller of non-fiction in the St. Louis area at the time. It led to speaking invitations to the authors from more than 100 organizations. Also in 1986, Mrs. Loughlin was a founding member and later president of the support group Forest Park Forever. In 1992, she received the Hiram W. Leffingwell Award, given to persons or organizations that have substantially benefited Forest Park. From 1970 to 1998, Mrs. Loughlin was a member of the Junior League of Saint Louis, where she served as an officer and director. She was also active with the Women's Society of Washington University, and served a term as president in 1993-95. In addition, she was one of the organizers and an officer of the Butterfly House, established in 1995, that later became a division of the Missouri Botanical Garden. After moving to Boston in 1999, Mrs. Loughlin volunteered her time at Cambridge's historic Mount Auburn Cemetery, and became a trustee of the cemetery in 2010. Mrs. Loughlin was a member of the board for the National Association for Olmsted Parks, and received the group's first Caroline Loughlin Volunteer Service Award. She also was on the board of the Emerald Necklace Conservancy, supporting a chain of parks designed by Frederick Law Olmstead. View, the magazine of The Library of American Landscape History, described her as among the country's most active stewards of the \Olmsted firm's landscape history, and named her its 2012 Preservation Hero. Mrs. Loughlin was predeceased by her brother, Charles Keller III. She is survived by a sister, Mary K. Zervigon, her husband, Philip H. Loughlin III, two sons, Philip H. Loughlin IV (Ellie M. Loughlin) and Thomas K. Loughlin, and two grandchildren, Christopher R. Loughlin and Katherine E. Loughlin. Services: A Memorial service will be held at Mount Auburn Cemetery on Sunday, October 27, at 11:30 am. Mrs. Loughlin was inurned at Mount Auburn Cemetery. Donations may be sent to the National Association of Olmstead Parks or to the Friends of Mount Auburn Cemetery.