Caroline Wright Obituary

Caroline took one last stab at her long-standing independence in writing this piece before her celestial discharge. Though Caroline never got by on her own, she was proud of her ability to pursue something/a variety of things that she wanted in life.

Caroline was born in Burnet, Texas and raised in the rural Briggs and Oakalla area of northeast Burnet County. She developed an interest in architecture after seeing a PBS show about Frank Lloyd Wright and thinking that there must be some connection with the last name. Caroline was not as good of a designer and became more interested in preservation of historic buildings, partly as a result of the many Texas road trip vacations taken by the family while Caroline and her sister, Sara, were kids.

Caroline was one of the first family members to attend college, at the School of Architecture at Tulane University. There she studied architecture and historic preservation, which led to her professional career in historic preservation. Her work helped preserve and rehab historic buildings in Louisiana, Georgia, and Texas. While she helped certain buildings avoid demolition, much of her work involved supporting property members to make the best decisions for their buildings. One formerly reluctant building owner told her that her explanation of how his building should be managed to preserve its important elements changed his personal approach to the property, which was one of the best compliments that Caroline received through her years of work. Caroline is especially proud of her last several years of work at the Texas Historical Commission, leading the Historic Tax Credit team to help rehab hundreds of buildings across the state. In honor of her work, Caroline has received Preservation Achievement awards from Historic Fort Worth and Preservation Austin.

Caroline is proud of the many various things she accomplished in her life, including: having drawings and writing in the Library of Congress as part of the Historic American Building Survey and Historic American Engineering Record; helping, in a small way, to designate Graceland as a National Historic Landmark; participating in both a dancing flash mob and the Unruly Mob at the state capitol; serving as a Neilsen TV rating family twice, though she watched terrible tv during that period of life; being an award-winning quilter and needlepointer; having Elvis Costello compliment her vintage hat by saying, "Nice lid"; costuming a friend's one-act play; countless hours of volunteering for a variety of organizations, particularly Preservation Austin over the last decade.

Caroline is survived by her family, including parents Bobby and Barbara and sister Sara. The family also includes her paternal grandfather, Bobby Sr, as well as numerous aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. Most importantly, she is survived by her two nephews, Reece and Mitchell. She takes one last opportunity here to call them Reecie-poo and Mitchie-poo one last time. She treasured every moment she spent with those two, even when she was annoyed with them. She was preceded by the many grandparents and great-grandparents that she and Sara were blessed to grow up with. Caroline has asked to have portions of her remains left at their gravesides in Liberty Hill, Briggs, Killeen, and Point Enterprise so that she resides with family across parts of Texas.

Caroline is also survived by too many friendships to name out, or this will never end. She appreciates all the friendships that she has been given in her life.

Make sure there are snacks. Maybe a potluck? I don't know.

Songs that can/should be played:

U2: If God Will Send His Angels;

Old Crow: We're All in this Together

A note from the family: Caroline didn't want a visitation. We will have a service, we will let you know when. And there will be snacks and maybe a potluck. Listen to some U2 and some Old Crow Medicine Show, look at some cool buildings, drink a Dr Pepper, and be kind to others. For Caroline.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in Caroline's honor to Preservation Austin at https://preservationaustin.app.neoncrm.com/forms/donate or your local historic preservation organization.