Carolyn Fortney

Carolyn “Butch” Fortney passed from this life into the next Wednesday, March 5, 2025, in Mon Health Medical Center, Morgantown, following complications of Influenza A.
She was born October 3, 1942, in Wheeling, a daughter of the late Vern and Susan Hicks Phillips.
She graduated from Cameron High School in 1960 and remained a lifelong Dragon fan. Following high school graduation, she attended Wheeling Beauty College, from which she graduated in April 1961.
She secured employment at Myrtle’s Beauty Shop in Cameron, eventually taking ownership of the business after the retirement of the original proprietor.
In 1962, she gave birth to her only child, Jim, who was the pride and joy of her life.
She was an avid sports fan, particularly of the WVU Mountaineers, the Miami Dolphins, the Cincinnati Reds, the Boston Bruins, the L.A. Lakers, and NASCAR. She enjoyed reading, especially anything pertaining to the Civil War. She visited many of the Civil War battlefields, but of those, Gettysburg held a special place in her heart. She visited there on an annual basis until her health made it no longer comfortable to travel.
She planted a large vegetable garden each year while she lived in Cameron and thoroughly savored the fruits of her labors, especially her tomatoes.
She enjoyed music of all types, with Jazz being her favorite genre. Despite being hindered by a double curvature of her spine her entire life, she enjoyed water skiing as a young woman and trekked into the Grand Canyon on a mule.
When Carolyn’s mother’s health began to fail, she closed her beauty salon and took a position with Teletech, working on the “NICS” project for the FBI doing background checks on gun sales.
In 2013, she sold her family home in Cameron and moved to Morgantown to be closer to Jim. During the time she lived there, she was a frequenter of the farmer’s market on Spruce Street and attended countless WVU sporting events, plays and concerts.
Survivors include her son, Jim and wife Lisa of Morgantown; a brother, Ed Phillips and wife Pat of Cameron; and several nieces and nephews.
In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by a nephew, Terry Phillips.
Family will receive friends from 11 a.m. until the time of the funeral service at 1 p.m. Saturday, March 8, in Grisell Funeral Home & Crematory, 400 Jefferson Avenue, Moundsville, with Pastor Doug Richardson of Cameron First Christian Church officiating.
Private interment will be held at the convenience of the family.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made, in Carolyn’s memory, to the hospice organization of donor’s choice.
Expressions of sympathy may be left at grisellfuneralhomes.com.