Carolyn Anne Clute

Carolyn Anne Clute

September 7, 1960 – June 7, 2023

Carolyn Clute died suddenly at her home in Marin County, California, on June 7. She was an accomplished multisport athlete, a lover of animals and nature, and a beloved daughter, sister, and life partner. She was 62.

Born in Hartford, Connecticut, on September 7, 1960, to George E. Clute and Anne M. Clute, she grew up in Connecticut and Massachusetts with her brother, Greg, and the family beagle, Samantha. In 1982, she graduated summa cum laude from Tufts University with a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering and went on to work for General Electric’s Jet Engine Division before earning an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. After receiving her MBA, she worked for a time as a management consultant in Boston before relocating in 1991 to the San Francisco Bay Area, where she built a career in marketing at firms including Autodesk, BrightEdge Technologies, Adobe, and Education Finance Partners.

She met the love of her life, Thomas Pettersson, while both were working for Autodesk in the mid-1990s, and they were devoted partners until Thomas’s untimely death in a biking accident in 2017.

Carolyn was passionate about sports, and she enjoyed road and mountain biking, skiing, snowboarding, windsurfing, rowing crew, hiking, and yoga. She windsurfed in San Francisco Bay, the San Joaquin Delta, Hood River, Baja Mexico, Hawaii, and the Dominican Republic. An ardent cyclist, she regularly rode with two Bay Area groups and completed the grueling 129-mile Death Ride in the California Alps in 2008. She also rode in the Cinderella Classic in 2006 and 2007 and the Terra Bella in 2009.

Her love of animals — especially her Jack Russell terriers, Edward and Pepper Potts — drew her to volunteer work with the SPCA in San Francisco. Some of her most pleasant hours were spent with friends and dogs at Chrissy Field and Fort Funston in the city. Her love of sports, adventure, animals, and yoga took her many places around the globe, including South Africa, Sweden, Norway, Cuba, Slovenia, Mexico, and the Dominican Republic.

Carolyn was preceded in death by her father and Thomas. She is survived by her mother, Anne M. Clute of Greenbrae, California; brother Gregory E. Clute and wife Kathy Clute of Concord, Massachusetts; niece Madeleine Clute of Melbourne, Australia; cousin Anne Evans of Gaithersburg, Maryland, and Anne’s children Rachel and Colin Jones; and Thomas’s parents, Siv and Sten-Åke Pettersson, and brothers Klas Fells and Jonas Pettersson of Sweden.

The Celebration of Life is 11:00 a.m., Sunday, July 30, 2023 at Acqua Hotel, 555 Redwood Hwy, Mill Valley, CA 94941.

Please RSVP by July 25, 2023 to this email address: caccelebrationoflife@gmail.com

Memorial gifts in Carolyn’s name may be made to the Marin Humane Society, 171 Bel Marin Keys Blvd, Novato, CA 94949.

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