Caroline Redfearn

1943 - 2024

Born Ida Carolyn Redfern in Jasper, Alabama, to Daphne and Laurence Redfearn, on February 26, 1943. Always one to march to her own beat, she changed her name to Caroline, seldom acknowledged Ida, and added the "A" back into her surname as it was the true and original spelling of the beloved family name. She gave that name to her kids as well. Keeping the Redfearn name and her family history alive was important to Caroline.

Caroline's education, jobs, interests, and loves were numerous. She attended several colleges and obtained degrees at the University of New Mexico, University of Northern Arizona and Drexel University. She held jobs as an instructor, grant writer, market researcher and a librarian.

Caroline loved the southwest and loved Mexican culture. With her daughter, Gillian, in tow, she taught English as a second language on American Indian reservations, on the US-Mexico border and in Puerto Rico. Caroline thought little of driving the two of them into the interior of Mexico to explore using her bilingual daughter as her bargaining comrade. In later days, they not only shared the love of reading, but also adjacent careers, Caroline as a librarian and Gillian in trade publishing.

While living in Memphis, her hobby was theater costuming. She did costume design for productions at Theatre Memphis, Germantown Performing Arts Center, and Alabama Opera South. With her son, Joshua, she shared a love of theater. In fact, Joshua was in his first theater production before he could even read and went on to make theater a successful career.

With her husband, Keith, she shared years of adventure. They loved to travel, particularly to the southwestern United States and to Mexico. They especially focused their travels on colonial Mexico with extended trips to a different Mexican city almost every year of their relationship.

As the Director of the West Memphis Public Library, Caroline fostered many local projects that researched and commemorated the rich musical history of the region. She introduced ebooks into the library system and upon retirement, she left the library with a large financial surplus that made possible a new library and innovation center for the city of West Memphis. After her retirement, Caroline volunteered at Habitat for Humanity in Memphis.

In 2022 and as her health declined, Caroline and her husband relocated to Austin, Texas, to be closer to family. She spent the last year of her life at the Arden Courts Memory Care Community, where she made many friends and received wonderful, loving care. We owe gratitude to all those who helped with her care in these last years.

Caroline will always be loved and is survived by husband Keith Murphy, her children Joshua Redfearn (Emily Park Smith) and Gillian Redfearn (Lyman Labry), grandson Nathan Reed, bonus daughter Kanlin Mott, several nieces and nephews, and Pippin the cat.

Services will be held in Birmingham, Alabama, at the First UU Church of Birmingham on December 28, 2024. In lieu of flowers, we would be honored to see donations in her name given to any of the following organizations, the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin, Tan Cerca Frontera of Austin, Habitat for Humanity, Every Library, or the Promedica Foundation for Memory Care (Arden Courts-Austin).