Skahill, Carolyn Marie
Carolyn Marie Skahill died peacefully in her sleep on April 29 at her home in Avon, CT. She was 79.
Carolyn was born on July 9, 1941 in Hartford, CT and grew up in West Hartford in a large family with five children. She graduated from Conard High School in 1959 and then attended Tufts University, the University of Lausanne (Switzerland), the University of Munich, finally graduating from the University of Hartford with a degree in Finance. She held two graduate degrees, one in Finance as well as an MBA. She was fluent in both French and German.
Carolyn loved to travel and would often take members of the family with her to Ireland, Europe, the Caribbean, India, Nepal and Tibet. For many years she was a frequent visitor to her sister Joan's family in Vermont; she always looked forward to spending the holidays with her family. Carolyn was often the impetus for family beach trips to Ogunquit, Maine and Cape Cod where everyone would have the opportunity to gather and reconnect.
She was an avid skier and frequented the slopes of the French and Swiss Alps.
She loved to walk her beloved Golden Retrievers – Max, Daisy, Molly, Hobbes and Murphy. For many years she could often be seen walking her dog at the Farmington Reservoir, in West Harford Center, and on the beaches of Maine and Cape Cod.
In her early twenties, Carolyn worked in Geneva for the Investors Overseas Service (IOS). Returning to Hartford in the early seventies, she was a Foreign Exchange Trader for the Connecticut Bank & Trust. In the early eighties Carolyn was hired as Treasurer at Scan Optics, the first woman senior corporate officer in that company. Later, she was the Director of Investor Relations at Ames Department Stores Inc. In her late sixties, Carolyn taught high school French.
Carolyn loved her family fiercely and would always take anyone in and care for them, no questions asked. Although she was a person of strong opinions, she never let anything come between her and a member of the family.
Carolyn is predeceased by her older sister Nancy Gray of Rhode Island and her niece Nina Paparazzo of Conway, Massachusetts. She leaves behind her sister Barbara Paparazzo of San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, her brother John Skahill of Oklahoma City, and her sister Joan Attig of Rutland, Vermont as well her nieces and nephews: Hannah Skahill of Boston; Reuben, Aaron and Sam Skahill of Memphis; and Jennifer and Sarah Attig of Vermont.
She asked that her ashes be divided into three parts - some to be buried at the Fairview Cemetery in West Hartford next to her parents; some to be spread at Nina's gravestone in Massachusetts; and some to be scattered in the Atlantic Ocean in Ogunquit, Maine along with the ashes of her all of her beloved dogs. A funeral service will be held at 10:30am on June 19 at Saint Patrick's Church in Farmington, CT.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Fidelco Guide Dog Foundation, 103 Vision Way, Bloomington, CT. 06002.