Mary Carrigan Carter

Mary Carrigan Carter, age 72, died October 19, 2024 following a brief illness.

Born April 4, 1952, in Birmingham, AL, she was the daughter of the late Jack and Stella Carrigan. Mary graduated from John Carroll High School in 1970 and attended the University of Alabama for her bachelor’s degree in music. She then attended the University of Alabama at Birmingham for medical school, where she met her husband, Jerry. They married in 1981.

After graduating with their MDs in 1982, Mary and Jerry moved to Hershey, PA, for their residency training at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. After completing her residency in pediatrics, Mary and Jerry moved to Memphis, TN in 1985 where she completed a fellowship in pediatric oncology at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. She worked as a pediatric oncologist until 1992, when she retired to raise her children.

In 1999, Mary decided to resume her academic career and began working to obtain her master’s degree in music. She attended the University of Memphis, where she specialized in early music/musicology and taught music appreciation and harpsichord. She was the harpsichordist for the University’s Collegium Musicum and obtained her master’s degree in 2007. In 2020, Mary and Jerry moved to Montrose, CO, where they lived until her death.

Mary was a kind, enthusiastic, and talkative woman whose life was characterized by a profound appreciation for scholarship, music, family, friends, travel, and cats. She pursued education (self-taught and otherwise) in such diverse areas as medicine, musicology, aviation, history, cooking, literature, politics, gardening, physics, geology, astronomy, and art, all of which she applied herself to with an unwavering passion and a deep intellectual rigor. She obtained a private pilot license in 2001 and enjoyed flying a small airplane. In her later years, she discovered a previously undiscovered talent for painting, and she produced a number of works that displayed a keen eye for natural beauty and the splendor of the world. She was also a skilled musician, specializing in piano and harpsichord, and trained in several other instruments over the years, including organ, djembe, and hammered dulcimer. Her musical tastes ranged from medieval troubadour songs to Debussy piano works to modern alternative rock.

A lover of travel, Mary frequently ventured to other countries with her family and took many trips overseas to Europe and Asia throughout her life; additionally, she was a keen student of international cuisine and took an especial interest in French and Mediterranean dishes. She loved hiking and sightseeing, especially in the mountains of Colorado with her husband, and took an avid interest in the birds and wildflowers of the state. She was a lifelong “cat person” and kept several cats over the years, cheerfully spoiling them with affection and treats. Above all, however, she loved her family and friends, displaying immeasurable warmth and love towards her husband, her two children, her grandson, and all others that were fortunate enough to know her.

Mary is survived by her husband Jerry, her daughter Rachel Allen (Jesse) of Michigan, her son Alex Carter of Illinois, and her grandson Jack Ogden. Jack loved his “Gigi” very much, and his mother Rachel strives to imbue within him the same passion for learning, life, and family that Mary displayed for all her years.

A memorial service will be held for Mary in the spring of next year. Please consider making a memorial contribution to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in her name.