Former Bothell Citizen reporter Carol Ruth Hilton, 85, died of lung cancer Jan. 10 in Portland, Ore. She was an award-winning journalist who wrote for the Citizen — predecessor to the Bothell-Kenmore Reporter — and other newspapers throughout Washington.

In 1949, while flying as a stewardess for Challenger (later Frontier) Airlines, she met John Edwin Hilton II. They married one month later and moved to the Seattle area, making their home in Bothell during the 1960s and ‘70s.

Carol began her journalistic career as a reporter for the Bothell Citizen. At mid-life, facing the prospect of covering the local July 4 celebration for the eighth time, she returned to school. She earned her master of arts degree in communications from the University of Washington. She later worked for the School of Communications as a research associate, then as liaison between the school and the newspaper industry.

She went on to become a writer and section editor for the Yakima Herald Republic and, later, for the Daily Olympian. Throughout her career, Carol was active in the Washington Press Association and Women in Communications, winning awards at the state and national level.

“She was known for her interviewing skill and a writing style that drew readers’ interest into whatever she wrote about,” said Linda Daniel, of Portland, a longtime friend and colleague.

Services will be held at 2:30 p.m. Jan. 29 at Portland’s Grace Memorial Episcopal Church, 1535 N.E. 17th Ave., followed by a celebration of life at nearby Holladay Park Plaza, 1300 N.E. 16th Ave.

The family requests that no flowers be sent, and suggests that any gifts in Carol’s memory be sent to Seattle Opera, the Northwest Center for Wooden Boats or Planned Parenthood.