Flowering Trees Honor Fallen Trustee
Nine years after the Huntington School District community woke up one morning to hear the shocking news that four-term trustee Carol K. Hartough had died while driving home from a meeting the night before, memorial trees planted at eight different buildings are blooming this spring, reminding her friends of what a character the longtime school board member was.
The 64-year old was driving home from a meeting on March 19, 2001 when her car veered off Park Avenue, crossed the road and struck a tree on the east side near Mill Road. Press reports indicated that since there was relatively little damage to her vehicle, it was thought that Mrs. Hartough had suffered cardiac arrest before the crash.
District employees, fellow trustees and parents were shocked to hear the news. Flags were lowered to half-staff around the district. Mrs. Hartough was a feisty member of the Huntington School Board with an extensive network of people she regularly spoke with to keep her pulse on the pulse of every aspect of the district and its schools. She used this information to push for improvements in all areas.
“She was a fighter for the underdog – the little guy,” then Huntington School Board President Robert T. Lee told a reporter the day after Mrs. Hartough’s shocking death. Mrs. Hartough holds the distinction for winning the greatest number of votes in a single trustee election in district history.
Eunice Marchi, a close friend and fellow trustee, was deeply saddened by Mrs. Hartough’s death. Mrs. Marchi raised funds to purchase eight trees, with one being planted at every building in the district. The trees were to serve as a living memorial to one of Huntington’s most colorful figures.
“Carol was the most real person I ever met,” Mrs. Marchi told the Huntington News in the days after Mrs. Hartough’s passing. “She was a character and I don’t think she can be replaced.”
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When the trees were planted in the fall of 2001, a special dedication ceremony was held at Washington School on Whitson Road. For many years prior to her election as a trustee, Mrs. Hartough was an employee at the school as a food service worker and felt much affection for the Washington community.
The trees were ordered through Mohlenhoff’s Nursery and planted by the district’s buildings and grounds staff members. Small tablets were installed at the base of each tree, memorializing Mrs. Hartough as a “devoted school board member.”
This spring the trees are flowering, leading people who were not familiar with Mrs. Hartough to ask about her and allowing those who worked alongside her to tell an endless array of stories.
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