Obituary: Carole Tuttle Gygi Lansdowne

0 Comments | Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Feb 4, 2004

December 5, 2003

Clinical psychologist Carole Tuttle Gygi Lansdowne died unexpectedly of heart failure on Dec. 5, 2003 in Portland, Oregon, one month short of her 71st birthday. During 25 years of private practice in Portland, Dr. Lansdowne was known for her innovative treatment of phobias and her work with victim advocates in the public defender's office. She also founded the Rape Victims Advocate program at Portland State University.

A native of Manti, Utah, she spent her youth there and in Salt Lake City. She was a popular student at the LDS Institute of Religion at the University of Utah where Lowell L. Bennion was her most influential teacher. She graduated from the University and was a member of Lambda Delta Sigma (LDS Church fraternity) and the Alpha Chi sorority.

One of the first PhDs graduated from Portland State University (urban studies and psychology, 1974), she did clinical work with Fr. George Saslow at the University of Oregon medical School.

She was married and divorced twice: to attorney Robert Neil Gygi (deceased 1984) and PSU Professor Jerry W. Lansdowne (retired). Her first marriage took her to Heidelberg, Germany, Cambridge, MA, and finally to Portland. She did graduate work at the University of Heidelberg and at Harvard University.

Carole will be remembered not only for her professional accomplishments, but also for her love of music, poetry, and the natural world-- especially the Columbia Gorge and central Utah. She cared little for material blessings, much for her family and friends who honor her for her incisive wit, her inquisitive mind and her strong desire to serve others.

She is preceded in death by her parents, John Henry Tuttle and Mabel Dell Tuttle, sister Mary Dell Tuttle Childs, and brother John Daniels "Dan" Tuttle. She is survived by three children: Kathleen Gygi of Santa Fe, NM; Brian Gygi of Oakland, CA, and Renata Gygi Dietrich of Portland, OR. and three grandchildren: Emily, Madeline, and Grace Dietrich.

A memorial service is planned for the spring of 2004.