CAROLYN PLEDGER

1932 - 2019

Carolyn Hughes Brastow Pledger
Carolyn ("Carol") Hughes Brastow Pledger, 87, a resident of Greenspring Village in Springfield, Virginia, died at her home on Sunday, December 15, 2019. Born on November 21, 1932 in Lewistown, Pennsylvania, Carol was the daughter of the late Thomas Franklin Brastow and Carolyn Rice Brastow. She was a 1950 graduate of the Warren County High School in Front Royal, Virginia and then attended the Walnut Hill Prepatory School in Natick, Massachusetts for one year where she excelled in creative writing. After earning her B.A. in Philosophy from Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts in 1955, Carol married Richard A. Pledger, her husband of 62 years. She served as an English teacher in a private school in New Jersey while her husband was in graduate school at Rutgers University. She also earned a professional certificate in 1959 from the New York School of Interior Design and embarked upon an 18-year part time career teaching esthetic principles of design. In 1977, she earned her Master of Education degree in Counseling and Human Relations from the University of Virginia, was licensed as a Professional Counselor specializing in Mental Health, and went into private practice for 17 years focusing primarily on Grief Counseling, as well as Marriage and Family Counseling. Some of Carol's most notable achievements include her extremely active involvement in community service and social justice, including but certainly not limited to social action, race relations, alleviation of poverty, fair housing, and civil rights. When she and her husband moved to Greenspring Retirement Community, she spearheaded and participated in a number of discussion and think tank groups including Socrates Café, the Dialogue and Diversity Forum, and Multi-Cultural Dialogue Group. Carol, a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, is survived by her two sons, Mark Pledger of Gaithersburg, Maryland and his wife, Angela Pledger, and Richard T. Pledger of Manakin Sabot, Virginia and his wife, Kelly C. Pledger, and five grandchildren including, Aaron Pledger, Joshua Pledger, Andrew Pledger, Ryan C. Pledger, and Hannah R. Pledger. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, Richard A. Pledger who passed away on July 2, 2017 on their 62nd wedding anniversary, and her brother, Thomas C. Brastow of Broomall, Pennsylvania who passed away in 1985. A memorial service will be held Saturday, January 11, 2020 at 1 p.m. at the Chapel at Greenspring Village in Springfield, Virginia, the Rev. James M. Bell officiating, immediately followed by a reception at the Hunters Crossing Conference Center on the Greenspring Village Campus. The family anticipates Carol will be interred with her grandparents, parents, and brother in the Lind Memorial Cemetery in Lewistown, Pennsylvania.