Carol Bird Cutting
May 14, 1930-Feb. 10, 2018
Orange County, California

Carol Bird Cutting, a 60 year resident of Menlo Park, passed away at her home in Orange County, California on February 10th, 2018. Her three daughters were by her side. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Carol graduated from Marlborough School for Girls and went on to graduate from UCLA where she was a member of Pi Beta Phi sorority. After graduation, she moved to Palo Alto, where as “Miss Bird” she spent 5 years teaching 5th graders in the Palo Alto School District, which earned her a lifetime California teaching credential. Through a blind date, set up by their mothers, Carol met Lester Cutting who was working in San Francisco at the time. They were married in June of 1956. The newlyweds built a home in West Menlo Park and raised their three daughters with the values and qualities they admired most: kindness, generosity, and a positive outlook on life. Carol participated in a variety of volunteer activities and worked at what she loved. She was a Girl Scout Brownie Leader, Las Lomitas School District PTA President for 2 years and later worked as a substitute teacher at La Entrada School. In Peninsula Volunteers, she helped with the senior housing apartments on Partridge Avenue and the fundraiser shows. As a member of the Menlo Atherton Auxiliary, she especially liked her volunteer hours at the Traditional Shop located at the Allied Arts Guild. Carol spent years working in retail and joined Saks Fifth Avenue in the designer dress salon where she helped each of her clients find just the right outfit for that special occasion. Her affiliation with St Bede’s Episcopal Church was a constant in her life. There, Carol taught Sunday School, hosted exchange students, arranged flowers for the altar guild, joined the investment club and found lifelong friends and truly meaningful community support. Carol was pleased to stand by her husband Les as the “First Lady” to his many volunteer endeavors. As a couple, they enjoyed their home and garden, Stanford football game tailgates, and traveled to many U.S. and European destinations. The two spent most Friday nights on their “date night” at a local restaurant, always pleased to be the late diners that turned out the lights on their way out the door.

Carol always kept an optimistic attitude and in her later years moved to the Capriana Senior community in Orange County, close to her daughter’s home.

Carol is survived by her three daughters: Mary Jack, Barbara Sieck and Nancy Phillipi, her seven granddaughters: Lesley, Kathryn, Stephanie, Madeline, Lauren, Nicole, and Caroline, her two great grandchildren: Charlotte and Henry, her sister: Barbara Bird McColl, and other extended family members. Carol was preceded in death by her husband of 51 years, Lester Milbank Cutting. The family prefers memorial donations to the charity of your choice.