Carolyn R. Barton (1953-2008)

Carolyn Rebecca Barton, age 55, passed from this life Aug. 7 after a brave battle with ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease.) Carolyn was a graduate of Oberlin College and received her PhD in biology from the University of Wisconsin in 1981. A resident of Alameda for the past 8 years, she lived in Foster City for 10 years prior to that.

She worked at Applied Biosystems in Foster City. Carolyn was most proud of her accomplishments in biotechnology that contributed to the effort to sequence the human genome. She took up sailing in mid-life, navigated the family boat and was not afraid to try new things.

As a participant in clinical trials to test therapies for ALS, Carolyn found hope and contributed to the knowledge that she knew would one day help others. Carolyn's Crusaders, a team walking in her honor in the Bay Area Walk to D'Feet ALS, raised over $10,000. She is mourned by her husband Mario Sepulveda, children Stephen R, Annmarie and Alexandra Sepulveda, sisters Louise Miller (Melville "De" Miller) of New Jersey, Anne Wittke (Barry Malpas) of Flagstaff, AZ, Betsy Barton of Durham, NC and Mary Barton (Beth Biegelsen) of Chevy Chase, MD, brothers Edgar E. Barton, Jr. of Wilmington, NC, John Barton of Alpine, CA and Jim Barton of Asheville, NC, and 10 nieces and nephews.

In lieu of flowers, donations in memory of Carolyn may be made to the Forbes Norris Clinic at California Pacific Medical Center PO Box 45234 San Francisco, CA 94145-0234.