Greta Audrey (Hedeby) Carolus
Loveland, Colo.— Greta Audrey (Hedeby) Carolus, 63, Loveland, Colo., died suddenly Dec. 13, 2020.
Greta was born April 24, 1957, in Akron, Iowa, to Eric and Joann (Ericson) Hedeby. She attended school in Akron, where she graduated from high school in 1975. Greta attended college and graduated from St. Luke’s School of Nursing and began her nursing career in the copper mining town of Morenci, Ariz. Greta always wanted to live near the beautiful mountains of Colorado and in 1984, she moved to Fort Collins, Colo., and later to Loveland, Colo., where she remained throughout her life. Greta married James Carolus April 4,1987. Their first child, Cameron James was stillborn in 1989. They were blessed with two additional sons, Tanner James, born in 1990, and Bryan Eric, who was born in 1995. Greta’s children were the most important thing in her life and she loved every minute of being their mother. Although the marriage between Greta and Jim ended, they remained friends.
Greta worked as a nurse at Poudre Valley Hospital starting in orthopedics and then moving to obstetrics, where she loved working with babies and their mothers in Labor and Delivery. She worked there for more than 20 years until she stopped working in 2005 due to health issues. Greta worked with a close group of nursing friends and maintained those close friendships for the rest of her life.
Greta loved nature, especially the beauty of the mountains and the flowers she would dry and use to make cards and gifts. She was a true animal lover, especially her dogs and birds.
Everyone who ever met Greta liked her, but those who really knew Greta loved her. Relationships were very important to her and she maintained friendships for up to 60 years of her life. Those relationships included: Her entire family, neighborhood friends, High School friends who she still regularly travelled, phoned and zoomed with these past months, her college nursing friends and those she worked with in Arizona and Colorado, as well as many neighbors. Greta leaves a huge void to all who were lucky enough to have her in their lives.
Greta was diagnosed with Type 1 Juvenile Diabetes at the age of 15. She dealt with this very privately. She learned her kidneys were failing in early 2005 and all of her siblings were worked up to be kidney donors. During this time Greta had an MRA where she received the Gadolinium (metal) dye. As a diabetic, this dye was catastrophic and quickly went into her tissues and organs. Greta received a life saving kidney donation from Erica in 2006. Greta never walked again due to the Nephrogenic Systemic Fibrosis (NSF) caused by the Gadolinium; however, she was able to maintain her independence. She loved to live independently. Greta always had a smile although she endured significant pain every day.
Since June, Greta’s oldest nephew, Aaron Diediker, was assigned to work in Denver and Greta welcomed him to live with her. Aaron was a great companion and roommate. He helped make things easier for Greta by cleaning, shopping, cooking and making sure she had everything she needed. Greta so enjoyed Aaron and appreciated his help and humor these past months.
Greta was preceded in death by her dad, Eric Ulf Rickard Hedeby; her son, Cameron; paternal grandparents of Sweden and maternal grandparents from Akron.
Greta is survived by her two children, Tanner (Stephanie) Carolus and Bryan Carolus; her mother, Joann Kathryn Hedeby; two grandchildren, Ellie and Luci; her sisters, Erica (Don) Diediker and Ingrid Berlin; and brother, Rickard (Monica) Hedeby; and nine nieces and nephews including, Aaron, Andrew and Arik Diediker, Jordan, Josh, Jake and Jessie Hedeby, and Alec and Max Berlin.
Donations may be made in memory of Greta to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation at http://www2.jdrf.org