Carolyn Claire McKain Zwahlen, a retired teacher and fabric artist who loved to explore the Colorado mountains, died in Littleton, Colo., on August 16, 2023 after a short illness. She was 92.

A dedicated hiker, bird-watcher, gardener, weaver and knitter, she embraced the beauty of Colorado and the Southwest after moving to the state with her young family in 1968.

Even in her later years, she often took her inflatable boat, "The Red Pearl," out on Chatfield Reservoir to fish, accompanied by one of her beloved golden retrievers.

Zwahlen was born in Cumberland, Md on April 7, 1931 to Lillian Bastian McKain of Salem, Va., and Walter P. McKain, of Parkersburg, WVa. She grew up in Parkersburg, a small town on the Ohio river, where she learned to play the piano, a life-long pleasure.

She and her younger brother, David Leonard McKain, were lovingly watched over by their extended family, but especially their beloved Aunt Harriet McKain Ludlow, and spent many happy hours in her large flower garden and on her nearby farm.

Zwahlen was graduated from Parkersburg High School in 1948, having lost her mother in Febraury the prior year.

She attended Ohio State University in Athens, Ohio, where she studied business and joined the Chi Omega sorority. She met Jack J Zwahlen, a geology major, there in her junior year and they were wed in her hometown on May 9, 1952.

She moved with her husband, a new lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force, to Bryan, Tx, where he was stationed. The couple also lived in Houston and Corpus Christi, Tx before moving back East to Pittsburgh for Jack's work as an oil geologist.

Five years later, they moved with their three children to the Denver area where they fell in love with the wide, open spaces, majestic mountains and brilliant blue skies of the Centennial state.

Zwahlen went back to college and received her bachelor's degree from the University of Denver's Colorado Women's College in 1976. She then earned her teaching certificate and became a long-time substitute teacher for the Cherry Creek School District.

She loved classical music (but not the violins!) and jazz, especially piano, and attended some of the legendary Dick Gibson jazz concerts in the 1970s. Her holiday season highlight was the annual performance by the Colorado Ballet of The Nutcracker and its Tchaikovsky score.

After she retired, Zwahlen sold her hand-knit scarves under her DelicKnit label, which was featured in Colorado Biz magazine.

She loved animals of all kinds and trained and showed her golden retrievers. She also was an avid reader and volunteered with the library in Castle Rock, Colo, delivering books to home-bound seniors.

She is survived by her children Cyndia Zwahlen (Lance Terry), Lissa Zwahlen Thoeny (Bret) and Heidi Spurgin (Andrew), her three beloved grandsons Maxwell and Harris Thoeny and Jack Zwahlen Terry, her step-brother, Walter P. McKain Jr. (Connie) and 10 nieces and nephews. Zwahlen was preceded in death by her parents,  her husband and her brother David.

A long-time resident of Perry Park in Larkspur, Colo, she will be buried next to her husband in the rustic Bear Cañon Cemetery in the Plum Creek Valley they both loved so well.