Carolyn Ann Ripp

Niceville - Carolyn Ann Ripp (Riggs) age 66, of Niceville FL, passed unexpectedly on Monday January 29th, 2024. She was born in Seattle, WA on July 24th, 1957 and was the daughter of the late Gerard A. Ripp DDS and Margaret E. O'Keeffe.

Carolyn graduated from Averill Park High School in New York in 1975 and went on to complete a Bachelor of Science in Biology in 1979 from Boston College as well as a master's degree in Physiology in 1981 and a Doctorate of Medicine in 1985 from Georgetown University. She completed a three-year residency in Family Medicine at St. Clare's Hospital in Schenectady, NY where she met her soon to be husband David, who was in the same program. Their wonderful 35-year marriage started at the end of residency in August 1988 and they spent the month of September on their honeymoon traveling throughout Australia and New Zealand prior to starting their first Air Force assignment at Barksdale Air Force Base in Shreveport, LA. It was there that Carolyn opened her first of many medical practices at Willis Knighton and Highland Hospitals and the first two of her four children were born - Caitlin on September 22nd, 1989 and Ryan on July 18th, 1991.

Carolyn and her family then moved to Bitburg, Germany for a three-year European tour, frequently traveling to neighboring countries while abroad. Her favorite was Spain, which she visited five times. Her third child, Jason, was born in Germany on June 15th, 1993 at Landstuhl Army Hospital. In 1995, while pregnant again, the family of five was transferred to Charleston Air Force Base, where her fourth child, Jonathon, was born on November 19th, 1995. The then family of six stayed there for over five years, allowing her to sustain medical practices in Family Medicine, metabolic weight loss and occupational health while being an active school mom and swim team supporter for all four children. In 2000, the Riggs family moved to Colorado Springs for a three-year skiing and hiking adventure at Peterson Air Force Base prior to moving to their forever home in Florida in 2003 where she devoted her entire time to her husband and four children, continuing to create life-long memories with annual family vacations across the world.

Carolyn was an avid athlete throughout her life participating in college field hockey, running the Boston marathon, tennis, ping pong, intramural basketball, swimming for hours, and soccer that she played along with her husband for many years. In recent years she began sewing and quilting, leaving behind several beloved pieces she made for family and friends. Family was the most important thing to Carolyn. She was a caring wife and an incredible mother. She immersed herself in her children's lives. They will especially remember her cooking, including the BEST cookies and banana bread, birthday theme cakes, rum cake and her famous Chex Mix which she often sent overseas to deployed hospital troops. She will be remembered as the light of their lives with her heart of gold. She defined kindness.

Carolyn was preceded in death by her parents Gerard Ripp DDS and Margaret O'Keeffe and her brother Andrew Ripp. She is survived by her husband of 35 years David A. Riggs DO, and their four children Caitlin, Ryan, Jason and Jonathon as well as her daughter-in-law Maggie and two beloved grandchildren Maverick and Mallie. Carolyn is also survived by her brothers Kevin, Timothy and Kenneth as well as her two sisters Mary Beth and Kathleen.

As were her wishes, her body will be laid to rest by cremation by the McLaughlin Twin Cities Funeral Home in Niceville, FL with plans for a Celebration of Life among family and friends in the Summer of 2024 - her favorite time of year - in Florida.

In lieu of flowers, contributions in her memory may be made to the Andrew P. Ripp scholarship fund at the Siena College in Loudonville, NY. https://www.siena.edu/alumni-and-friends/scholarships/scholarship-list/details/ES058/.