Carole Marie Bogdany May 23,1943 - January 14, 2024
Carole Marie Bogdany, nearly a lifelong resident of Norwalk, Connecticut, peacefully passed away at her retirement home in Boulder, Colorado, at age 80. Carole is survived by her daughters, Karen Steenekamp and Sharon Dolan, her two sons-in-law, James Steenekamp and John Dolan, and her three grandsons, Shane, Ryan, and Casey Dolan. Debbie and Sandy were Carole’s twin cousins who always remembered Carole’s birthdays and holidays. Carole’s inner circle includes her friends until the end — Sheila and Bill Bennett, Lynn and Jim McNulty, and many others. The deceased who preceded Carole are her parents, Andrew and Matilda Hornyak, and her beloved husband of nearly 42 years, John Joseph Bogdany.
Carole graduated with high honors from Norwalk High School near the top of her class. From there, she married John Bogdany in 1962. Carole fulfilled her life with enrichment and activities on many levels, but being a mother to her daughters was always her top priority. Carole graduated from Norwalk Community College with a bachelor’s degree, then pursued a higher education at Fairfield University, graduating with a master’s degree cum laude. She also broadened her creative boundaries at The
New School in New York City; hand-lettering was her passion academic.
In her younger years, Carole participated in sports — tennis and skiing. Carole’s top highlights were “every weekend for years” skiing at Killington, Vermont, with her family and good friends, and countless family road trips to New Hampshire, Maine, Canada, Rhode Island, Cape Cod, Nantucket, Martha’s Vineyard, the Outer Banks. She and her husband also “ski-ventured” to the Swiss and Italian Alps, Big Sky, Montana, Park City, Utah, Angel Fire, New Mexico, and the renowned Colorado ski resorts.
Carole also launched a business career as a professional calligrapher. Before that, she was the assistant editor for several national magazines: ‘Tennis,’ ‘Ski,’ ‘Snow County,’ and ‘Golf Digest.’ Mid-life, Carole volunteered for the Norwalk
Women’s Crisis Center and enjoyed meeting her friends at the Senior Centers in Norwalk and Westport and the area’s non-denominational church.
All that aside, Carole’s daughters were her world. As her daughters defined their lives, Carole loved visiting Karen in Colorado, adored her son-in-law, James (and vice versa, as they had lots in common, including their sense of humor), and seeing her daughter Sharon and her son-in-law John in Chicago, Richmond, St. Louis, and Charlotte. The icing on top was “The Boys” — Carole’s grandsons — Shane, Ryan, and Casey. Carole’s interest in her grandsons’ academics, theater, creative writing, and sports impressed her; she was one proud grandmother!
As Carole approached age 73, she and her family decided she would enjoy her golden years in Boulder, Colorado, close to Karen and James. Carole always loved the Southwest, where cowboy hats, country music, and creative minds are the culture. Carole “fit right in” to her new town and home in Colorado, at the Frasier Meadows Retirement Community. Carole’s apartment was brimming with her art — watercolor paintings, felt art, pottery, and various mixed media arts. She was often the winner of word games.
Due to proximity, Carole was closest to Karen and James — the trio enjoyed scenic drives in the mountains and spending long weekends at the Steenekamp’s watching old westerns, listening and dancing to Waylon Jennings, playing cards, Scrabble, cooking, and simply enjoying her home away from home. Sharon visited often. The four under one roof was a special gift to Carole and her daughters.
Carole was a loving, supportive, non-judgmental, optimistic, creative soul. Her love was above and beyond for her daughters and those who loved her. Her daughters are blessed and honored to have had a mother who was open-minded, gentle, and able to encourage both girls to be who they wanted to be. Both daughters love their lives thanks to their mom’s good-natured guidance.
In lieu of flowers or charitable donations, please be kind and accepting of those around you, as Carole practiced daily. If you’d like to do more, queue up Waylon Jennings on your sound system and sing and dance, as Carole would love that. A private “family and friends celebration of life” ceremony will be held for Carole on the East Coast this spring.