Ruth Constance Walton Solberg (Connie to all who knew her) died at Meadowbrook Health Center in the Clark-Lindsey Village in Urbana on Thursday, October 2, 2008 after a brief illness. She was 80. Born July 9, 1928 in New York to Ruth Eileen Sidow and John Marion Walton, she is survived by Winton U. Solberg to whom she was married, and three children. The eldest child, Gail Elizabeth Solberg, is an art historian in Florence, Italy where she lives with her husband Giulio Nicita and two daughters, Giulia Costanza and Marta Cristina. Connie's son Andrew Walton Solberg is a Commander in the Washington D.C. Metropolitan Police Department. His family includes his wife Yasemin Ciftci and four children, Suzanne Beryl, Alexander Tarkan, Matthew Kamuran and Benjamin Tolgahan. Youngest daughter Kristin Solberg is an attorney in Urbana, Illinois, where she lives with her husband David Seyler and their sons John Winton and Stuart Andrew. Connie is survived by a sister, Mary Lou Ratte of Ashfield, Massachusetts and a brother Richard Walton of Keedysville, Maryland. Another brother, John Walton II of Roslyn, New York. Her parents predeceased her.

Connie attended the Emma Willard preparatory school in Poughkeepsie, New York, and then Vassar College, where she belonged to the class of 1950 and took a BA in Political Science and Early Childhood Education. She went on to a teaching career of over 50 years, dedicating her energies first to preschoolers, and ultimately to middle school students as well as to adults in continuing education. She worked at the Henry Street Settlement in New York as a young graduate and then in the Head Start program in Illinois. In 1969 she earned an MA in Education from the University of Illinois, and from that year until 1991 taught 5th and 6th graders at Leal School in Urbana. In 1975 she was named an Outstanding Elementary Teacher of America. After "retiring" from Leal in 1991, she worked with the Urbana Adult Education Department English as a Second Language curriculum until May 2008. She also taught in private middle schools in Urbana, first at the Wesley Foundation and then at the Next Generation School, from which she resigned definitively at the end of the last academic year, just a few months before learning she was ill. Generations of students, both young and old, and from many countries, remember her fondly.

Connie was an avid traveler. She was able to take all but one of her eight grandchildren on a trip to a distant part of the world. One grandchild recently noted that she had been "almost every imaginable place". She loved music, reading, and was keenly concerned about environmental issues. She supported many organizations in the arts, and social service, and was personally involved with Planned Parenthood. For several years she served on the board of the Urbana Chapter. She belonged to the Score Club, and lately had been named to the board of the Funeral Consumers Alliance. In the summer of 2007 she went to Brazil as a volunteer worker with the Global Volunteers to work with terminally ill children in hospitals.

Her family extends warm thanks to Dr. Sherfield Dawson, to Dr. Ronnie Luyun, to numerous other health care providers at Carle Hospital, and most especially, to the many people at Meadowbrook Health Center who treated her with loving care.

Family and friends are invited to gather on Sunday, October 5, 2008 from 3-5p.m. at Clark-Lindsey Village's Huegy Lounge. Arrangements were handled by Renner-Wikoff Chapel & Crematory 1900 S. Philo Rd. Urbana. Condolences may be offered at rennerwikoffchapel.com.