Carol Anne Marston

Carol Marston, 70, of Bushnell, Florida, died Monday, Sept. 8, 2025. The cause of death has not been determined. Her death was unexpected. She was in HCA Florida Citrus Hospital in Inverness, taking a noontime nap in preparation for a 4 p.m. operation, when she stopped breathing. A quickly summoned emergency crew attempted to revive her, but it could not establish a consistent heartbeat. Carol was known for persistence in life. She was intelligent, friendly and caring. Carol enjoyed crafts such as making pottery, sewing and growing plants that won blue ribbons in the Sumter County Fair regularly. She graduated from St. Petersburg Junior College with associate degrees in computer science and in arts. Carol became a computer operator. She ran large, mainframe computers beginning in the mid-1970s at St. Anthony's Hospital in St. Petersburg and for Hernando County government in Brooksville. She executed programs to update databases and print departmental reports, copied computer data on reel-to-reel tape drives and maintained libraries of backups. Carol was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1976. She persevered through MS flareups over the years. However, the MS worsened greatly after an employer eliminated her covered accessible parking place. It did so to make room for an executive with no need for accessibility. The employer moved Carol's space into an uncovered spot in the sun. It did this, despite a written warning from her neurologist that some MS patients, and Carol in particular, must avoid heat to prevent degradation of the condition. Regardless of the adversity, Carol and her husband adopted their son from a Romanian orphanage in 1994 with pride and hope for their newly fulfilled family's future. She filed a disability complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission with hope that it could convince the employer to reverse its decision. When it could not persuade the employer; Carol filed a lawsuit in federal court in Tampa. The employer's case paled in the face of Carol's detailed and extensive testimony. The jury returned a verdict in her favor Sept. 8, 1998, in just more than one hour. The decision was front-page news in the St. Petersburg Times. The court victory came too late for the effect of MS on Carol. In October 1997, the worsened MS had paralyzed her from the waist down. She used a power wheelchair to get around and a home hospital bed for sleep. Nonetheless, she endeavored to remain energetic. The Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa treated Carol for breast cancer in 2020.The Atlanta Neuroscience Institute and the University of South Florida Neurology Department in Tampa treated her for MS and Alzheimer's disease. She donated her brain for scientific research to the National Multiple Sclerosis Brain Bank at Columbia University in New York City. Carol spoke about her health difficulties openly. She hoped that sharing what she learned about treatment and adaptations would help others. In November, Carol and her husband traveled to Dearborn, Michigan, just west of Detroit. She was born in Detroit as Carol Anne Awender to Doris and Antone Awender on July 2, 1955. They visited favorite sites from Carol's childhood in nearby Dearborn Heights. They drove to Northern Michigan to visit a cousin. The trip totaled two and a half weeks and 4,400 miles with few problems. Husband Glenn and son Mihai "Pete" Marston of Bushnell, and brother Richard Awender of San Juan Capistrano, California, survive Carol. She lived in Bushnell for 41 years. Carol and Glenn married on Oct. 18, 1980, in the First United Methodist Church of New Port Richey. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Atlanta Neuroscience Institute, atlneuroinstitute.org; the USF Health Neurology MS Division, giving.usf.edu/online/ gift/f/250281; the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, nationalmssociety.org; the National Multiple Sclerosis Brain Bank, msbraindonation.org; or the Alzheimer's Association, alz.org. A visitation will be held at Purcell Chapel, Beyers Funeral Home, 114 W Noble Ave, Bushnell, FL on September 20, 2025, from 1:00pm-2:00pm, followed by a Memorial Service at 2:00pm. Condolences can be left at purcellfuneralhome.com. Arrangements entrusted to Purcell Chapel, Beyers Funeral Home.

Carol Anne Marston

July 2, 1955 - September 8, 2025