Remembering Gayden Carruth, area education champion

Gayden Fisher Carruth died on Wednesday, November 29. Carruth devoted her career to public education as a teacher, principal, superintendent, and mentor. She broke new ground as a pioneering school administrator and as a powerful role model for her family and for thousands of people whose lives she touched.

Carruth served as Superintendent of the Park Hill School District from 1994 to 2005. She was widely regarded as a transformational leader. The Missouri Association of School Administrators named Carruth the 1998 Superintendent of the Year.

In 2008, Carruth became the executive director of the Cooperating School Districts of Greater Kansas City. In that role, she mentored educational leaders from around the region and advocated for policies to improve educational outcomes.

Carruth is survived by her three children: Gene Keifer, Clement Stovall, and Neal Carruth. She was married for 38 years to Edwin Ronald Carruth, who died in 2010, and was a grandmother to six grandchildren: Marguerite, Jackson, Katie, Sofie, Max, and Dylan.

In lieu of flowers, Carruth's family requests donations to the Dr. Gayden Carruth Student Grants fund with the Park Hill Education Foundation at parkhillfoundation.org.

Published by Kansas City Star on Dec. 10, 2023.