Carol Ann Roe ’75, grew up in Crystal Lakes, a small town in Clark County, Ohio.
As a child, encouraged and supported by her parents, Roe spent a lot of time participating in church activities, Girl Scouts, and extracurricular activities at school, including the Future Nurses Club in high school. She and her family also traveled extensively, camping to make the trips affordable, and soaking up as much history as possible along the way.
During one such vacation, 13-year-old Roe developed a terrible case of poison ivy and ended up in an emergency room in a small town in Alabama. There, she was shocked to see signs dictating which water fountain Black people were allowed to use and where they could sit.
“It was appalling to me to see the total discrimination,” she says. “It had an impact on me.”
By that time, Roe already knew she wanted to be a nurse. But it was then that she began to question how laws and policies weren’t always consistent with her Christian beliefs.
After graduating from Bethesda School of Nursing, Roe knew she needed a bachelor’s degree in nursing to pursue her career.
“Mount St. Joseph was the most understanding of the fact that diploma school graduates did have some experience that should be accounted for in terms of awarding a BSN,” she says. “At the time, they were the only place around that had any process for granting previous credit.”
At first, Roe was a bit disgruntled about having to obtain a BSN. However, while pursuing her degree at the Mount, she took courses unrelated to nursing that she found stimulating, including one on the philosophy of science and another on the history of art. The latter course led to a lifelong passion for impressionistic art.
“I began to understand the value of a liberal arts education,” she says. “That art class just opened up a whole new world, in terms of things I hadn’t known.”
During this time, Roe became active in what is now the Southwest Ohio Nurses Association, the local chapter of the Ohio Nurses Association (ONA), which is the state organization of the American Nurses Association. She was elected to the board of the state chapter. Later, as a lobbyist for the association, Roe helped develop a legislative strategy to recognize advanced practice registered nurses as primary healthcare providers in Ohio. She also helped establish minimum standards for Ohio dialysis technicians.
Much of Roe’s life is rooted in the values of Charity, Collaboration, Commitment, and Curiosity, with a dedication to positively impacting people’s lives.
“I think that’s why we’re here on Earth,” she says. “That’s what it’s about.”
Early in her career, Roe began to understand the impact of policy on public health more clearly.
“Laws for the practice of nursing aren’t decided by nurses,” she says. “They’re decided by policymakers. You need to be at the table where decisions are made that impact people’s lives.”
Roe felt this so profoundly that she obtained a law degree to better advocate for nurses and patients in the public policy arena. Other titles she held include nursing administrator, clinical nurse specialist, faculty member, lobbyist, nursing regulator, compliance manager, risk manager, and mayor of Cleveland Heights, Ohio.
Roe loved campaigning to be mayor, simply because it allowed her to meet the many diverse groups of people who lived in her town.
“I got to hear people’s stories,” she says. “I got to understand the needs of the community. I believe, if you see something wrong, you try to make it better.”
One of the proudest moments in Roe's nursing career happened quietly, during a grand rounds at University Hospitals of Cleveland, where she worked during the height of the AIDS epidemic. As a nursing administrator, Roe worked collaboratively with the medical staff and administration in developing policies, procedures, and care systems for patients with AIDS.
“I saw nurses take care of patients that society was basically casting out,” she says. Hearing nurses talk about the commitment they had to caring for patients with AIDS and knowing she helped nurture that kind of environment impacted her greatly.
Roe has dedicated much of her life to encouraging fellow nurses to become involved in public policy and run for office. Recently, Roe attended the American Nurses Association—Ohio state meeting. Its current president is Rebecca Patton, DNP, RN, CNOR, FAAN, who also served as president of the American Nurses Association. When Patton was a new graduate nurse, Roe also helped nurture her career trajectory.
Roe is the recipient of many awards, including the Mount’s 2001 Lifetime Achievement in Nursing Leadership Award and the 2025 Sister Mary Lea Mueller Human Service Award, in a nomination that came from Ohio State Representative Rachel Baker.
“I am blessed by all those individuals who either mentored me or contributed to me as a student, nurse, attorney, candidate, and elected official,” said Roe in her acceptance speech. “I am grateful also for the leadership experiences I gained as a volunteer in professional and alumni associations, women’s and healthcare organizations, church, and political campaigns. I hope that I have been successful in paying it forward by mentoring less-experienced individuals in those arenas and by encouraging nurses to pursue their education and to run for office.”
Roe also thanked her parents, who instilled in her the values of advanced education and independent thinking, stressed the importance of service to one’s community and voting, and imbued Roe with a faith that emphasized helping those who are less fortunate and treating every individual with equal respect.
Personally, Roe spent many years happily married to her late husband, Gerald Layton, who supported her while she attended law school and worked full-time. The two also established Layton Roe Consulting, a healthcare and leadership consulting firm. Roe’s also proud of her close relationship with her stepson, John. After years of living in Cleveland, she now resides near Dayton, Ohio, where she remains actively involved in her church and community.
Roe is gratified to witness the nurses she’s mentored in the past succeed in trying to make the world a better place. After all, making the world a better place is what it’s all about, she says.