OBITUARY Dorothy Anne Carpenter February 25, 1940 – October 4, 2018 Dorothy Anne (Harvey) Carpenter Obituary Dorothy Anne (Harvey) Carpenter of Cataumet died at Keystone Place at Buzzards Bay on Thursday, Oct. 4, 2018, after battling a long illness. She was the beloved wife of Stanley R. Carpenter, Ph.D., for 56 years.
Born on February 25, 1940, in Milton MA, she was the daughter of the late John A. and Anna D. (Harmsen) Harvey. Dorothy always spoke fondly of her childhood. She loved ice skating on the frozen ponds in winter and swimming in Tom’s River and Lake Monponsett on summer holidays.
She was very close with her grandmother, “Mutti,” and treasured their time together. In high school, Dorothy became active in the service group Rainbow Girls. It was here and in the Weymouth Bible Club that she developed several lifelong friendships.
It was also within these groups that Dorothy began her lifelong commitment to the caring and teaching of others. Dorothy attended Framingham State Teachers College. During her summers she worked at a camp for underprivileged girls.
Upon graduation she began graduate courses in social work at Boston University. Her first professional position was as a social worker placing children for adoption. She would often reminisce about driving through the snowy streets of Boston in her VW Beetle with an adopted baby next to her in a cardboard box (these were days before car seats) as she brought them to their new home.
She met Stanley at the Collegiate Club at Park St. Church in Boston. They were married in September of 1962. They built a home in Marshfield, MA where Dorothy was involved in founding a chapter of a YWCA.
It was also during this time that she had her two daughters, Annette Dorothea and Julia Elizabeth, aka Nettie and Julie. They were always her greatest joy. In 1971, the family moved to College Station, TX where Stanley taught at Texas A&M.
In 1974, they moved to Atlanta, GA after Stanley accepted a professor position at The Georgia Institute of Technology. It was in Atlanta that Dorothy earned her Masters degree in Early Childhood Education from Georgia State University. She subsequently became an elementary school teacher and literacy specialist.
She worked at College Heights Elementary School in Decatur, GA for 19 years. Dorothy and Stanley retired to Cataumet, MA in 2000. Here they spent many wonderful and memorable summers with their children and grandchildren.
Dorothy was also the faithful caregiver to her beloved mother Anne Harvey until her death in 2013. Dorothy was a kind and gentle person to whom compassion for all came naturally. She was a true lover of nature who took long walks every day that she was able.
She also enjoyed reading, watercolor painting, and writing haiku. Most importantly, she was completely devoted to her family. In addition to her husband, Dorothy was the steadfast and loving mother to two daughters and grandmother to four grandchildren.
She is survived by her husband Stanley R. Carpenter; daughter Annette Carpenter Wawerna and son-in-law Michael Todd Wawerna of Atlanta Ga. ; daughter Julia Elizabeth Carpenter and son-in-law Matthew Zehe of Fort Collins CO. ; and grandchildren James Asher Wawerna, Dorothy Ava Wawerna, Isabel Kathryn Carpenter-Zehe and Owen Matthew Carpenter-Zehe.
She is also survived by her brothers John A. Harvey and wife Ellen Graham Harvey of Hingham, MA and Paul W. Harvey of New York, NY; and nieces, nephews and their families Pamela McQuaid, Jennifer Bourque, John A. Harvey, Paul Harvey, Grant Graffin, and Gregory Graffin. A Memorial Service will be held at United Universalist Fellowship of Falmouth, 840 Sandwich Rd, East Falmouth, on Friday October 19th at 1:00 PM. In lieu of flowers, donations in memory of Dorothy may be made to Dorothy’s alma mater, Framingham State University, benefiting students training to become literacy teachers.
www. framingham. edu/give.
Select “Diane Lowe Literacy Scholarship” in Memory of Dorothy Anne Carpenter.
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