Obituary of Carole Rawlings Nysmith

Carole Sue Rawlings Nysmith

Born on March 23, 1936 in Leavenworth, KS, Carole was the daughter of the late Kenneth Rawlings and Faye Rawlings of Leavenworth, KS. She was preceded in death by her loving husband of 53 years, Charles Robert Nysmith, who passed away in 2010. They were longtime residents of Reston where they raised their family starting in 1976.

Carole founded The Nysmith School for the Gifted in 1984 after teaching in Fairfax County for 11 years.  She had previously taught for 9 years in California before the family relocated to DC for her husband’s job at NASA.

While the school originally consisted of 55 kindergarten and first grade students primarily from Reston, the school currently serves over 550 students ages 3 years through 8th grade and draws families from across the US. The program was originally developed to enrich the educational experience of young students to prepare them to move on to Fairfax County's third grade Gifted Program.  Carole was an active part of the School from its inception through last year, reading to students in the library and greeting students with a beautiful smile every morning.

The family requests that you consider a donation to St Jude’s Children’s Hospital or another charity of your choice in lieu of flowers.