Caroline (Andrews) Porter, 89, of Springfield, Illinois, formerly of Galesburg, died at 9:17 a.m. Saturday, July 12, 2025, at Memorial Hospital, Springfield, Illinois. Born March 30, 1936, in Kewanee, Illinois to Harper and Alice Griffith Andrews, she married John Goltermann in 1958. They divorced in 1975. She married W. Dale Porter of Alexis in 1982 and he died in July 2008.
Surviving are two daughters, Jean Goltermann, Eva Goltermann Basinger, and a son, Neil (Teresa) Goltermann all of Springfield, her brother James Andrews (Donna Avery) of Chicago and three grandchildren, Wendi (Jason) Schutte, James Goltermann (Bella Martin) of Springfield, and Jillian Goltermann of Virginia; and six great grandchildren.
She graduated from Kewanee High School in 1954 and was an American Field Service summer exchange student in Schweinfurt, Germany in 1953. She graduated from Knox College of Galesburg, Illinois and earned a master’s degree in political science from Western Illinois University in 2007. She was a lecturer in Political Science at Monmouth College, Monmouth, Illinois.
She was a political activist all her adult life, as a member of the League of Women Voters, government commissions and serving three terms on the Knox County Board. She was the first woman to serve on that board in 1973. In 1975, she became the first executive director of the Galesburg Downtown Village Council and during her tenure Galesburg was nominated and later won the first of three “Main Street Project Awards” from the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
She worked in business offices for over 20 years and was a licensed insurance producer. In 1989 Mrs. Porter established a marketing and freelance writing business, “Caroline Porter Ideas,” providing news, features, and photography for the Rock Island Argus, Quad-City Times, and a column “As Life Gets Funnier,” for Senior Life and Leisure magazine, published in Galesburg. In 1995, she published her columns in a book of the same name, which won first place awards from the Illinois Woman’s Press Association and National Federation of Press Women. She wrote a weekly column, “In My Opinion,” for the Zephyr newspaper in Galesburg, Illinois from 1999 to 2008. She was named 2002 Communicator of Achievement by the Illinois Woman’s Press Association. She was active in her church, Prairie Players, Community Chorus, Knox County Democrats, and Knox College Alumni Council, all in Galesburg.
Memorial visitation will be 10-11 a.m. Saturday, August 2, 2025, at Watson Thomas Funeral Home and Crematory, Galesburg. A memorial service will follow at 11 a.m. Caroline will be laid to rest next to her late husband W. Dale Porter at Alexis Cemetery, Alexis, Illinois. Online expressions of sympathy may be sent to the family at www.watsonthomas.com.
