Carol Geyer Furtwangler

A great light has left the world. Carol Geyer Furtwangler, born on December 7, 1944 in Baltimore, MD, and long-time resident of Charleston, SC left this life to continue her journey to greater depths of the universe on September 14, 2025. 

Audacious, larger than life, a force of energy, legendary—these are just some of the words shared with the family as news spreads of her passing. Carol’s life began in Baltimore attending Friends School (becoming fluent in French), and later Converse College in Spartanburg. A triple major, she moved to Atlanta to teach people who were profoundly deaf, then on to Charleston. She spent a year hitchhiking Europe with her best friend, playing guitar and singing in the streets, and later held several jobs teaching at the Speech and Hearing Clinic, Pinewood School, and finally James Island High School for over 30 years. Many alumni and teachers remember her penning the school alma mater, the JIHS production of Teen!, her joie de vivre, and great love and compassion for her students. 

The 80s were a seminal period, with roles in musicals and plays including Graceland with Stage One Productions, Pirates of Penzance with the Footlight Players, A Christmas Carol with Charleston Stage, and eventually she took the helm of the Sundown Poetry Series. The series grew to nurture local and national poets during the annual Piccolo Spoleto Arts Festival and is still running today. 

As an active member of the Poetry Society of South Carolina (and serving as the president for its 75th year), Carol had a deep love of poetry, the arts, and perfecting her own writing. Readers of the Post and Courier (News and Courier), The Mercury, charlestontoday.net, and Broadwayworld.com may remember her 40+ year career as an arts reviewer for local, national, and international productions and artists. Her children remember late nights at the paper as she convinced editors for another inch to preserve dynamic descriptions; finding the perfect word did not often elude her. She lavished praise on talented actors from Charleston Stage, Pure! Theatre, the Footlight Players, and several theatre groups who persist now only in memory (RIP, Pluffmud Players). Her activities as a reviewer and performer became less frequent and cut short as handicapped accessibility became a necessity, and Charleston architecture remained stubbornly uncooperative. 

She poured love into everything she did, from planning Dinners for Fun at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Charleston, to teaching her students how to drive and the importance of poetry. She was an inveterate lover of music. With(out) a little coaxing, a partially trained operatic voice would belt out the first two lines of favorite songs and capture the attention of a crowded room. Seldom was she accused of being too shy. She attended many iterations of the Charleston Area Writing Project, along with the writer’s retreat at Debordieau (pronounced Debby-doo, much to her consternation). She enjoyed time with friends in the Traveling Teacher’s Gourmet, bonding with many people in her 30+ years in Alcoholics Anonymous (don’t worry, she’d tell you herself), and taking every questing soul into her confidence who needed counsel.

She was the rare chameleon who could move between worlds, welcomed in high society events, relished at parties honoring the likes of author James Dickey or composer Philip Glass, and perfectly at home telling stories at the burnt out shack of a local oyster roast. At the end of each day and in between public sightings, Carol would return home to her husband and children. Per her own admission, she could not cook, clean, or sew. Trips to Folly Beach were year-round forays to honor the thrill of storms. Many summers, after reading one of several hundred novels, she dove into the water. Her family swam with her together, eventually hanging onto her feet as she floated on her back, per her daughter, “like river otter children, while she sang songs.”

Towards the end of her life she and her husband Zan left James Island for Mount Pleasant, where she started a chorus and brought joy to her neighbors. Carol was a rare soul who lived a long, many-storied life, with many people of different circles who felt she was an important part of their lives. She inspired trust and hope, knowing how to deftly remind one they were the most important person in their own lives.

As Carol was never shy to share, at 38 years old she found her birth mother, who quickly agreed to embrace her daughter. A phone call was placed in the rain from a payphone in Florida, and she wept, “Oh my baby girl, I finally found you!” This reunion led to years of travels and writing to the woman who brought her into this world. 

As the tide goes out and we are left rich with memory, those of us who knew Carol may consider ourselves lucky to stand in her wake.

Carol is survived by her husband, William “Zan” Alexander Cunnington Furtwangler; four children Elizabeth Tharin (Furtwangler) Coker (Robert) of James Island, SC; Stuart Alexander Furtwangler of Vallejo, CA; William Cunnington Furtwangler of Austin, TX; and Robert Gerard Furtwangler of Johns Island, SC; grandchildren Hannah Krietemeyer; Ashton Coker; Nicholas Krietemeyer; Jackson Coker (Madelynn); Ryan Coker, all of the greater Charleston area. She is also survived by sisters Linda and Lee (Richard, deceased).

A private burial will be held with family members.

A service honoring her life will take place on Wednesday September 24, 2025 at 3:00 PM at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Charleston at 4 Archdale Street; immediately following the service a celebration of life will be held next door at Gage Hall. 

The family welcomes any and all to attend both the service and celebration of life.

While some flowers are welcome, you may help the family in mourning (sign up sheet) or you may send donations to causes dear to her heart; please send donations to Charleston Stage Company or the Unitarian Universalist Church of Charleston .