Carolyn Frame Meeker

On July 16, 2025, Carolyn Frame Meeker died as she had lived, with dignity and resolve, and above all, on her own terms. Faced with a terminal cancer diagnosis, she chose to end her life peacefully, using Medical Aid in Dying rather than letting the disease kill her painfully. 

Born March 17, 1940, in Fresno, California, Carolyn spent her early childhood in hot and dusty Coalinga, where her father was a petroleum engineer. In 1950 the family moved to Los Angeles, where she attended high school. 

A trip to Europe after her sophomore year at UC Berkeley inspired Carolyn to realize that life had more to offer than settling down and starting a family right after college. Instead, after graduating from Cal with a B.A. in psychology, she entered a Ph.D. program in physiology at UCLA. Some of her advisors dismissed female students while others admired them a little too much, but she earned her doctorate and took a teaching position at Long Beach State. 

In 1981, she accepted another lecturer position at Sac State, where a member of the hiring committee, Gary Meeker, noticed her beauty, intellect, and clear bell-like voice. They later became better acquainted while at a ski cabin shared by several faculty members, and got married in 1983 on Gary’s sailboat. 

After retiring from Sac State, Carolyn loyally supported her husband’s hobbies while engaging in her own interests, including gardening, tai chi, and, for a time, writing a mystery novel. She especially enjoyed joining Gary on sailing adventures in the Delta. After his death in November 2024, she consoled herself with her walking/lunch group and multiple book clubs, seemingly the picture of health until her sudden illness and diagnosis in June.

Carolyn was an iconoclast who always followed her own path. We will forever miss her unique perspective and her deep-seated kindness. She was preceded in death by her father, Ralph Frame; sister, Judith Frame; mother, Mary Ellen Stone Frame, and husband, Gary Meeker. Those left to mourn her passing include her stepdaughter, Amanda Meeker; stepson-in-law, Wil Davies; and numerous cousins.

According to her wishes, no service will be held. Remembrances may be made to The Nature Conservancy.