Risk could have been Dr. Carol Rymer Davis’ middle name.
The champion balloonist climbed all of Colorado’s 14,000-foot peaks by the time she was 18.
Davis, 65, and her ballooning partner, Richard Abruzzo, 47, of Albuquerque, were presumed dead Sept. 29 after their gas balloon plunged into the Adriatic Sea during an endurance race.
Services for Davis, a radiologist who lived in Denver, will be at 11 a. m. Oct. 16 at St. John’s Episcopal Cathedral, East 14th Avenue and Clarkson Street.
The two had set off from Bristol, England, on Sept. 25, competing in the Gordon Bennett Race, which they had won in 2004.
The 20 teams in the race were competing to go the farthest, all with the same amount of fuel, said Carol Davis’ brother-in-law, Drew Davis of Denver. Davis and Abruzzo were hoping to land in Greece, Bulgaria or Turkey, he said.
The Italian Coast Guard called off the search for Davis and Abruzzo on Monday after divers failed to find them and a robotic vehicle that had scanned the seabed found nothing relating to the balloonists, according to an Associated Press report.
Their balloon plunged at an estimated 80 mph.
There “have been a lot of suppositions” about why the balloon went down, Drew Davis said. It is known there were thunderstorms in the area, he said.
On board were a satellite telephone, VHF radios, a radar transponder and two mobile telephones, according to a statement by Don Cameron, flight director of the Bennett race. But all efforts to contact the pair were unsuccessful, Cameron said.
Carol Davis and her husband, John C. Davis IV, started hot-air ballooning in 1972 and often ballooned together. She had several world records. Just a few weeks ago, she was added to the list of those who will be inducted into the Colorado Aviation Hall of Fame.
“She was an astounding woman,” said Drew Davis. “She was very, very competitive, and whenever she started something, she had the attitude of ‘I’m going to set these records. I will be the best.’ ”
Carol Ann Rymer was born in Denver on Nov. 28, 1944. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Colorado College in Colorado Springs and her medical degree from the University of Colorado. She did her residency in nuclear radiology at the Lovelace Medical Center in Albuquerque.
At the time of her death, she was a partner at Diversified Radiology, specializing in women’s health, family members said. Davis had been in the U.S. Army Reserve as a flight surgeon, retiring as a colonel in 2001.
In addition to her husband, she is survived by two daughters, Heather Mead Davis Benavidez and Marne Anne Davis Schmitz; five grandchildren; two sisters, Sue Rymer Gordon of Andrews, Texas, and Ruth Rymer of Castro Valley, Calif.; and a brother, Dr. Robin Rymer of Kansas City, Mo.
Virginia Culver: 303-954-1223 or vculver@denverpost.com
