Carol J. Chavoustie

Carol Joanne Chavoustie passed away suddenly on March 21, 2019 in Alexandria Bay. She was 83 years old.

Carol was born on August 20, 1935 in Detroit, MI. She was the only child of Richard J. Ruff and Janith (Reed) Ruff. She was born deaf and attended St. Augustine School for the Deaf and Blind. She went on to graduate from the University of Miami. Incredibly, Carol taught herself to read lips and speak so clearly that people rarely knew she could not hear. She never let her disability stop her from anything.

She married Patrick Joseph Chavoustie on September 15, 1956 at St. Cyril’s Catholic Church in Alexandria Bay, NY. Their marriage ended in divorce. Surviving are her four children: Richard (Lisa) Chavoustie, Webster, NY;  Michael (Julie) Chavoustie, Alexandria Bay; Carol Ann (Rick) Ward, Alexandria Bay; and Paul (Paige) Chavoustie, Granby, CO. She was blessed with 14 grandchildren and 9 great grandchildren. She sadly was preceded in death by her infant son Christopher, Richard’s twin brother.

Carol worked at Jefferson Rehabilitation Center in Watertown, NY. She made a life changing impact on deaf students’ lives. Always the adventurer, in 1977 she moved to San Jose, CA where she worked as a programmer for IBM for 10 years. She also taught night school at Gilroy College. As a deaf instructor, she amazingly taught hearing students American Sign Language. She later transferred with IBM to Kingston, NY so she could be closer to her children. She retired from IBM in 1994.

Carol was extremely artistic. To her everything was beautiful. She loved to oil paint, create ceramics, and garden. She was also always a very competitive board game player. She loved her dogs and especially Jesus. Her adventurous spirit led her to buy a 34’ boat, cruise it from the St. Lawrence River to Jupiter, FL, where she lived on her boat named “High Spirit”, which describes her so well--living life to the fullest, fearless, with her loving spirit, forever the overachiever and an overcomer. She will be greatly missed. A celebration of life will be held at a time to be announced.