Alice Ann Castengera

Alice Ann (Rollins) Castengera died July 18, 2023, at Landmark Hospital of Athens. Her husband Michael remained by her side throughout her time in hospital and was with her at the end.

Alice was born in 1951 to William Joseph (Buddy) Rollins, and Vivian Holsonback Rollins of Greenwood, South Carolina. She lived in Greenwood up until after her high school graduation and first marriage, but went on to live all over the United States. Notably and with fond memories, she lived for many years in Boulder, Colorado with her late second husband Dwayne Sawyer.

Alice later met Michael Joseph Castengera, her husband of 40 years, at a television station in Beaumont, Texas, in what the two would describe as a whirlwind romance.  Together they raised a blended family of four children (as well as a long succession of cherished pet dogs) and lived several different places in the Eastern U.S. before finally settling in Athens, GA.

Alice earned her master’s degree in Social Work from Washington University in St Louis, Missouri before embarking on a career as a school counselor and as a social worker providing support to people in need. In her work in Athens she helped create a special program to assist grandparents raising their grandchildren on their own. Alice had a lifelong love of cooking and baking, leaving her family with fond memories of a lifetime of wonderful food cooked with great finesse and great love. She was an avid gardener with an encyclopedic knowledge of plants and an even more avid reader who would consume several books every week.

In addition to husband Michael, Alice is survived by her children, Amy Barker, Marisa Castengera, and Michael Adam Castengera, her son-in-law, Gary Barker, and her grandchildren Cecilia Barker, Anna Marie Crews Bennett, Robert Allen Crews, Paige Barker, Ryan-Ann Castengera, and Rylie Kate Castengera – as well as many great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her youngest daughter, Vivian Liana Sawyer Castengera and her sister, Rebecca Rollins Gabriel.