Carol Ann (Glackin) Feltner

Feltner, Carol Ann—nurse, U.S. Army veteran, teacher, wife, and mother—passed away on May 1 after a long and courageous battle with a severe illness. Beloved wife of Jonathan Feltner, devoted mother of Jennifer Feltner of Jackson, WY, Molly Feltner and her husband Bradley Costello of Arlington, VA, and Laura Feltner of Boston, and loving sister to Sandra Kauffman, Susan Bruggeman, and Richard Glackin. She also leaves behind many friends and numerous extended family members.

Carol was born in York, PA, on October 13, 1946, to parents Mary Pauline and John Richard Glackin. She attended York Catholic High School and later St. Joseph College in Maryland where she majored in nursing and participated in the Army Student Nurse Program. From 1969 to 1971, she served as an Army Captain and Chief Nurse of Ward 36 at Walter Reed General Hospital in Washington, D.C., where she cared for soldiers with massive facial and muscle injuries from the Vietnam War. She was haunted by the memories of the many young men who survived the war but had paid a devastating price. For her compassionate and professional caregiving and service, she was awarded the Army Commendation Medal.

After leaving the military, she earned her Masters’ Degree in Nursing from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and became a Nurse Practitioner (NP) through studies at Duke University. In 1974, she moved to Boston where she served as Program Director for the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital Nurse Practitioner Program, which became the first NP program in the U.S. to be accredited by the American Nurses Association.

She married Jonathan P. Feltner, a U.S. Marine Corps Infantry Officer, in 1975, and, in 1979, gave birth to identical twins, Jennifer and Molly. Her youngest daughter, Laura, was born in 1982. She left nursing and made her children her focus. She was dedicated to ensuring they got the best education possible. She particularly enjoyed working with them on science projects. While other children made clay volcanoes with baking soda and vinegar eruptions, the girls had fully dissected and labeled cow organs, and exposés on dangerous home goods worthy of Consumer Reports. Both twins eventually pursued careers in science. Jennifer successfully defended her PhD dissertation at the University of Montana in April and Molly is applying to Physician Assistant programs after a successful career in journalism. Carol fought difficult legal battles so that Laura could receive support for learning disabilities at a time when very few services existed in the public school system. Laura now works as a nursing assistant at the Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Cambridge.

In her later years, illness left Carol often unable to travel, but she was able to attend the college graduations of all three of her daughters and the wedding of daughter Molly to son-in-law Bradley Costello in Leesburg, VA, in 2017. Carol did enjoy several southern road trips with dear childhood friends, including best friend Mary Bridget Schell.  She loved hearing stories of her adventurous daughters’ international travels and supported them through career changes and advanced studies. She spoiled her “granddogs,” Boots and Trofast, who could do no wrong.

In lieu of flowers, please consider sending a donation to the National Veterans Foundation’s Lifeline for Vets (https://nvf.org/lifeline-for-vets) or St. John Chrysostom in West Roxbury. A memorial service will be held at St John Chrysostom at 10:00 a.m. on May 12. Prior to the service, there will be a visitation at the Robert J. Lawler & Crosby Funeral Home from 8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. The family also plans to inter her ashes at Arlington National Cemetery later this year. For further details, please visit www.lawlerfuneralhome.com.

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