Carolyn Gifford Seymour

May 11, 1939 - August 22, 2020

Carolyn Gifford Seymour, formerly of Lee Avenue, Jamestown, passed away on August 22, 2020, at Salamanca Rehabilitation and Nursing Center. She was born on May 11, 1939, in Rochester, N.Y., the daughter of George and Catherine Gifford. Carolyn was valedictorian of her Gorham Central School class, graduated summa cum laude from Houghton College, and earned a Ph.D. in linguistics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. After serving as mayor of Jamestown, N.Y., in 1992-1993, she was Executive Director of Chautauqua Home Rehabilitation and Improvement Corporation (CHRIC), securing millions for lead paint abatement, housing and job programs for the county, retiring in 2010. Her last community work was volunteering for the 2010 census. Prior to those experiences, Carolyn was the owner and operator of The Bookshop in downtown Jamestown and Warren, Pa., and the family editor at the Jamestown Post-Journal. Her earliest work included teaching high school in Barneveld, Wis., being assistant professor of linguistics at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, and founding the East Cleveland Citizen weekly newspaper. Moving to New York in 1972, she was research assistant for Chautauqua Opportunities, Inc., assistant to Jamestown Mayor Stan Lundine, and later housing and economic development coordinator for Southern Tier West Regional Planning and Development Board. Carolyn was an officer and/or board member of the New York State Rural Housing Coalition, Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Center, Jamestown Public Schools Board of Education, Cassadaga Job Corps Community Relations Council, Chautauqua County Homeless Coalition, Downtown Alive Committee, Jamestown Housing Partnership, Catherine Harris Association, United Way of Southern Chautauqua County, Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Jamestown, Unitarian-Universalists for a Just Economic Community National Board, Jamestown Area Chamber of Commerce, Jamestown YWCA, Jamestown Community College, Empire State College Buffalo Region Advisory Board, Chautauqua Home Rehabilitation and Improvement Corporation (CHRIC), Chautauqua County Planning Board, and Jamestown Girls Club. She was also a member of the American Booksellers Association, Linguistic Society of America, Jamestown Zonta Club, Chautauqua County Women’s Political Caucus, American Association of University Women, and League of Women Voters. Carolyn’s post-graduate studies included Neighborhood Reinvestment Training Institute courses, NeighborWorks America Advanced Practitioner Program at Harvard University, and New York State Department of State Public Administration Internship Program at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Carolyn’s recognitions include Chautauqua Home Rehabilitation and Improvement Corporation Lifetime Achievement Award, Jamestown YWCA Woman of Achievement Award, Who's Who in American Colleges and Universities, New York State Senate Woman of Distinction, and National Science Foundation Fellow. Carolyn is survived by her son, Richard Seymour, and his significant other Olga Khazan of Fairfax, Va.; her sister, Gladys, and husband, Alvin Schuster, of Buffalo; and her brother, Roy and wife Judy Gifford of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. In addition to her parents, she is preceded in death by her sister Martha Harris and her former husband and musical partner Doug Seymour. Visitors are welcome to a safe socially distanced calling hours on Friday, August 28, 11 a.m.-1 p.m., at Powers, Present & Sixbey Funeral Home, Inc., 316 East Fifth Street, Jamestown, N.Y. Burial will be in Mina Cemetery, Mina, N.Y. A celebration of her life is tentatively scheduled for May 2021 when, ideally, we won't be ruled by a virus. To send condolences to Carolyn’s family, visit www.presentsixbeyfuneral.com. One may donate to the Dementia Society, the American Cancer Society, or in lieu of donations, just send in your 2020 census, vote, and enjoy the small things in life.