August 8, 1947 - December 2, 2021
In loving memory ~
Carolyn Dorothy Budd-Goertzen went to be with the Lord peacefully from her home in Cloverdale, BC on December 2, 2021. Carolyn Budd was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba on August 8, 1947 to Catherine Avent and James Budd. She was raised in West Vancouver, BC, and in Grade 9 became involved with Young Life, an organization whose focus was to bring the Gospel to teenagers. She was dedicated to her work with teenagers and remained committed to helping them in their faith well into her twenties. While working with the youth, Carolyn started building her life and values around her Christian faith.
In the summer of 1969, when her son Ted was a baby, Carolyn started the Salt Circus Ministry at the West Vancouver Baptist Church with her first husband Gracen Beutler. The couple were married in 1968, and together, they reached out to the young people on the beaches of Ambleside. By September of that year, the Baptist Church was full of young people attending a service dedicated specifically for them. The youth ministry lasted for almost ten years and Carolyn was interviewed on a local radio station because so many young people came from all over the Vancouver area to attend the services.
After leaving the ministry, Carolyn, by then a devoted mother to her son Ted and daughter Rebecca, moved to a two-acre acreage in Maple Ridge. There, out in the country, she took on the formidable task of designing and building her dream house. She and her young children lived life to the fullest, feeding animals, picking fruit, and gathering vegetables from the large patch in the "back forty." She canned vegetables and made jams and harvested apples from the mature apple orchard on the acreage and pressed them into cider.
For Carolyn, family was most important, and she raised her children in the knowledge of Christ and to respect and look out for one another. She loved her family and her friendships in Maple Ridge. She witnessed to the community by hosting Bible camps for children in the summer and Bible studies for young people in the winter.
As much as Carolyn loved her family, she also loved her many pets. She was a breeder of Cocker Spaniels, Standard Poodles, and Lhasa Apsos. She enjoyed gardening, crafting cards, painting, political discourse, and reading and writing. She wrote a book about the life of Jesus called Dusk: God's Chosen Donkey. She had a passion for serving people and maintained a strong record of public service. She served as a chaplain for the White Rock Peace Arch Hospital, taught Sunday school, and volunteered with the South Surrey RCMP detachment, the Welcome Wagon, and the Mothers March of Dimes. She also ran in the 1993 federal election for the National Party of Canada and enjoyed the many debates.
Carolyn's faith was strong and unyielding and her quest for spiritual knowledge led her to attend Regent College, and later in life, she entered the Catholic Church. It was at Regent College where she met Peter Goertzen, her second husband. Carolyn and Peter married in 1989, and together, built a life of ministry to family, friends, and neighbours. Her home was like a flowering garden, always filled with colour and art. Her paintings covered the walls, and she loved to gift them to family and friends. Carolyn was a remarkable and colourful and passionate woman, always entertaining her family and friends with laughter and joy. Her greatest desire at the end of her life was to see her family and friends come to experience the love of Jesus as she had known over her lifetime.