Carolyn L. Volturo passed from this life on Thursday, June 22, 2017 at St. John Hospital in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Carolyn was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma on May 7, 1938 to parents Dewey D. and Bessie L. (Hensley) Allen. Carolyn grew up in Tulsa and graduated from Will Rogers High School in 1955.
Carolyn married Charles Volturo on June 1, 1985 in Tulsa, Oklahoma at Holy Family Cathedral. Carolyn and Charles enjoyed 32 years of marriage. Carolyn is survived by husband Charles, brother-in-law Tom Volturo and wife Andrea of Claremore, Oklahoma; sister-in-laws Judy Saxton of Dallas, Texas and Rita Volturo of Fort Worth, Texas. She is also survived by her extended family, son Joe and wife Michelle, and grandson Hunter Volturo of Oro Valley, Arizona. Niece Jennifer Ivory and her children Carter and Jaxyn, and niece Jackie and husband Alex Matney of Dallas, Texas and her cousin, David Almeida and wife Linda, of Apple Valley, California. Carolyn was preceded in death by her parents Dewey and Bessie Allen, her brother, Denny Allen and her daughter RaNaye Crawford.
At age 6, Carolyn became interested in learning piano and continued that passion and played piano for church, weddings and for her enjoyment. Her relaxation at times was to sit and play her favorite music, including gospel songs and popular tunes from her past, but she didn't like the attention, so Charles would sit close by and listen. She would play favorite Christmas music during family gatherings, but only after being urged to play by everyone. Carolyn also enjoyed oil painting earlier in life.
Carolyn was a member of the Tulsa Ski Club in her earlier years before marrying Charles. She and friends would take weekend ski trips to Mexico or Colorado and then travel all night Sunday to show up for work on Monday. Carolyn would later see former ski buddies who were professional doctors, dentists, etc. in social functions.
Carolyn claimed to be mostly Irish decent on her mother's side, but always said she was converted to Italian after marrying Charles. Although she was not a certified chef, she had taken numerous cooking instructions from local Tulsa chefs for most popular cuisines. Her father-in-law, T.J. Volturo, said she could only have the family Italian recipes after a year of marriage to Charles. She quickly earned his respect and love and proved to be an excellent cook of his favorite Italian recipes.
Recently Carolyn wanted to learn more about her heritage by DNA testing and even now it is still pending in the DNA lab. She will now know for sure by seeing her family in God's Kingdom.
She enjoyed entertaining her friends throughout her life. She loved to provide special meals, many times preparing new recipes to please guests. During her life with Charles she was part of many dinner groups. This included friends around Christmas time with progressive dinners and seeing the Christmas lights from a rented limo. Then there was a church "Dinner for Eight" group which rotated among the group homes and resulted in long lasting friendships. Most recent was a dinner group of four couples which was named "Cork and Fork".
Carolyn enjoyed wines and wanted to make wine. She and Charles took some lessons and began wine making in 2009. Over the years she helped process 17 batches of mostly red wines. Friends often enjoyed these homemade wines from the private wine cellar which was labeled, Dolce Vita Cellars (Sweet Life in Italian). When Carolyn first married Charles her preference was always French wines, but later as California wines had improved, her taste expanded to many other varieties. Carolyn also enjoyed participation in a local wine tasting group called Tulsa Wine Enthusiasts (TWE).
Carolyn began working early in her career at American Airlines, Engineering Group, as clerical secretary. She developed many friendships and moved on to work for oil companies. She worked for Cities Service in Tulsa, then with CITGO Petroleum. She continued her education at Tulsa University to help in her career path. With CITGO she quickly ascended from Human Resources to assignment in CITGO marketing as an analyst. Carolyn moved on to become Customer Service Manager in Light Oils overseeing light oil distributor contracts of all CITGO operations. During her early tenure as manager, she often sat in on high level conference meetings. During these early days smoking was allowed. They would often pass out cigars and she was the only woman there, and they would pass her by. She immediately asked for the same favor and enjoyed her cigar like everyone else. Carolyn retired in 1999 from CITGO to begin enjoying the next phase of her life.
Not fully knowing how she would keep busy in retirement, Carolyn decided to take advantage of her Certified Master Gardening training, and formed a company (Masterpiece Landscapes) and obtained her Oklahoma License. She began to prepare landscape designs for friends and consult on the plants and make drawing layouts. But after a short time she realized this was developing into a semi full time job which was not part of her plan for retirement. However, she continued to help friends when asked about planting and landscape ideas. The home in Sapulpa is a showcase of her endless efforts to beautify the property.
Carolyn joined a Sapulpa community service sorority, ETA ZETA and served as past President. She served as chairperson for the community fundraiser Sapulpa Candlelight Charity Ball in 2000 benefiting SHOW. She also enjoyed the events from the Tulsa Men's Club that she and Charles had joined in 1993. Her favorite times were the dancing and dinners that the group sponsored.
When Carolyn decided to marry Charles, she had asked him if he liked to travel because she had always awarded herself with a nice yearly trip during her working career. Having more experience in travel, she led in planning many wonderful trips with Charles. Over their 32 years of marriage they traveled to numerous destinations including Hawaii, Caribbean Islands, Mexican Riviera, Italy (multiple times), and other European countries. Cruise ships also became part of their life. This past May they celebrated their 32nd Anniversary on an Alaska cruise.
Carolyn was a breast cancer survivor sine 2011 and passed many physicals and screenings since that challenging time in her life.
Carolyn lived a full life enjoying all her friends and family. She exhibited love, compassion, joy and laughter plus strong determination in her life. She will be missed so much!
Funeral services are organized by Fitzgerald Funeral Home. A rosary service and attendee participation of commenting and celebrating her life will be held on Thursday, June 29 at 7:00 pm, Fitzgerald Southwood Colonial Chapel, 3612 East 91st Street South. A funeral mass will be held in Tulsa at Saint Bernard's Catholic Church, located at 4001 E. 101st Street, Tulsa, on Friday, June 30, 2017 at 10:00am. A reception will be held immediately following the service at St. Bernard's church hall. Interment will follow at the Calvary Cemetery, 9101 South Harvard Ave, Tulsa.
In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Catholic Charities, P.O. Box 580460, Tulsa, OK, 74158-0460, or to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, 60 East 56th Street, 8th Floor, New York, NY 10022.

Fitzgerald Southwood Colonial Chapel, 918-291-3500