Carol Ann (Engelskirger) Riper

Carol Ann Engelskirger Riper, 75, of Meadville, PA died on Tuesday, December 5, 2023 in Meadville.

Carol was born on September 11, 1948 in Erie, PA to the late Carson and Anne (Nielsen) Engelskirger. She died quietly, having been fully disabled after an extended battle with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS).

Carol is survived by her only child, Natalie, son-in-law Mark Marin, and grandchildren Claire and Margot Marin, all of La Canada Flintridge, CA. She is also survived by her sister Sally and Sally’s husband Victor Liberatore, both of Orchard Park, NY, a brother Jerry Engelskirger of Cochranton, PA, sister Debra Potocki of Charleston, SC, and several nieces and nephews.

Carol graduated from Lawrence Park high school in Erie, PA in 1966, and with a business degree from Penn State University in 1970. After graduating, Carol lived and worked in Philadelphia.  She married and moved to Harrisburg where she worked in a Commonwealth office for three years, later returning to Philadelphia, where her daughter Natalie was born in 1977.  Carol remained in the Philadelphia area for the next 40 years, mostly in Chester County, PA.  While living there, Carol had a successful 20-year career in the technology field, raised Natalie, and made many lifelong friends.  She served as President and Treasurer of her townhouse development in Chadds Ford, PA, during her last 10 years living in the area.  Immediately after retiring, she volunteered as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) in Delaware Family Court, in Wilmington, DE, working with children in the court system.

After retirement Carol spent the next few years looking for a country property to restore. She settled on a large old house, with much of its original architecture intact, on five rural acres on the Allegheny River in northwest PA, in 2012.  Over the next six years Carol worked to restore the house, completing much of the work herself.

In 2022, shortly before her ALS diagnosis, Carol sold her house on the river and moved to Wesbury, a beautiful retirement community in nearby Meadville, PA.

Carol was a kind person who cared deeply about the welfare of children and animals, both wild and domestic.  Carol never met a dog she didn’t love, and who didn’t love her in return, including her golden retriever Libby, and later, a chocolate lab named Gretta, which she shared with her brother.  She was a lifelong supporter of many conservancy efforts and liberal political causes.  Carol had a specific interest in land conservancy, particularly of French Creek, which ran through her family’s farm into the Allegheny River.

Carol was an intellectual and a news junkie. She subscribed to the Wall Street Journal and New York Times, and often read both cover to cover. She loved to talk politics and investing, and all things current events.  Carol was an outspoken feminist role model for her daughter Natalie.

She was an accomplished seamstress, over the years sewing everything from draperies and slipcovers for her home and friends’ homes, all of Natalie’s special occasion dresses, and wedding gowns for friends and family members.

Carol traveled to Europe, visiting Natalie when she studied abroad in London; to Kenya, when she and Natalie did a safari across the Masai Mara; and later to China with a group of friends.

Carol totally enjoyed looking at pictures of, and bragging about, her two beautiful granddaughters, Claire (11) and Margot (6). She travelled to New York City many times to visit Natalie and her husband Mark, including for the births of both their girls. Her saddest regret was that she would not live long enough to see them grow into womanhood. Carol will be dearly missed.

Donations can be made in her name to the French Creek Valley Conservancy, Heifer International or the ALS Association.

The arrangements have been entrusted to ROBERT W. WAID FUNERAL HOME, INC. 581 Chestnut Street, Meadville.

Online condolences may be sent to the family by visiting www.WaidFuneralHome.net