DR. CLARISSA ENGSTROM Clarissa Nelson Engstrom 1967-2012 We lost a wonderful force of nature Thursday, March 8, 2012. Dr. Clarissa Nelson Engstrom, aka "Gooey," lived life on her own terms, including the end. She was extremely accomplished and traveled, and lived life to the hilt, in everything she did. She was a skilled and very popular veterinarian in Las Vegas where she has lived the past ten years. A generous soul, she was also very glamorous, a little bit raunchy, a collector of vintage clothes and jewelry, a former Peace Corps volunteer, a holder of many patents, a staunch "Southerner," an amazing cook and desert gardener, and an overall beautiful soul who had the power to immediately impact everyone who crossed her path. In the course of her past 44 years, she lived in seven different countries, spoke three languages, and survived malaria more than once. She was a graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University and had a life-long aversion to Duke. Dr. Gooey was also awarded a Rotary International Ambassadorial Scholarship and she read for her master in science at the Royal Dick Veterinary School in Edinburgh, Scotland. Her achievements were many. Her work with Population Services International promoting AIDS and condom awareness was selected and presented at the 1992 International AIDS Conference. Gooey served at the Natural History Museum in Washington, D.C. and studied tropical veterinary medicine and conducted her field research in Lahore, Pakistan. She ran the program to identify blood parasites in equine for the Brooke Hospital for Animals there, as well. Based on her experience in tropical animal diseases, the USDA deployed her to England on 2001 as one of it's representatives during the Foot and Mouth disease outbreak and she remained on the call-up list should the disease reappear in the U.S. or Europe until now. As an avid gardener at her residence at Cactus Joe's in Blue Diamond, most recently Gooey worked to trademark the term "Kale Yeah," (trademark) in honor of her fall garden greens and to promote merchandise from which part of the profits are donated to good causes. Gooey is survived by her family, parents Dr. George and Linda Engstrom; sisters, Lisa Engstrom Nisenson, Andrea Engstrom Mckay and Elana Engstrom Lepabic; as well as the good people at Cactus Joe's Nursery. There will be a celebration of her life in Las Vegas 4 p.m.-sundown Saturday, March 17, past Cactus Joe's Nursery, at the Red Rock National Conservation Area. Look for the signs. Gooey encouraged donations to the following non-profit organizations: The Society for Experimental Art and Learning (SEAL) and the Heaven Can Wait Animal Society, www.hcws.org For SEAL, a Las Vegas-based arts non-profit, please contact Cory Mervis for more information on donating (sealnfp@gmail.com).

https://obits.reviewjournal.com/obituaries/lvrj/obituary.aspx?n=clarissa-engstrom&pid=156517065&fhid=13229