Carolyn Sackett Coleburn died on May 19, 2018, at her home in Redding, Connecticut. She was 88.
Born in New Rochelle, New York, on January 7, 1930, she was the youngest of three children of Charlie and Clara Sackett. Carolyn grew up in Larchmont and Thompson’s Point, Charlotte, Vermont. She attended Abbot Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, making friendships that lasted a lifetime, and graduated from Middlebury College in Vermont.
At Middlebury, she met Kenneth Coleburn. They were married in 1952 and raised their family in Rye, where they lived for 46 years. Carolyn was a homemaker until she began to run the family’s printing business, Clark and Fritts, in 1978. She was class parent for all four of her children at Osborn School. At the sixth-grade graduation of her youngest, she was called onto the stage and recognized for being the longest-serving class parent — 28 years.
At a young age she developed a passion for words and language – she loved reading and discussing literature, studied Latin and French, worked for Literacy Volunteers of America, and was vice president of The Friends of the Ridgefield Library. She enjoyed playing Scrabble, and in her 50s started creating crossword puzzles. Some of her proudest moments were when her puzzles were published in The New York Times. She took great pleasure on those mornings, watching fellow commuters doing her puzzles on the train to New York.
In 2000, the Coleburns moved to Ridgefield, Connecticut, and three years ago to Redding.
Some of her favorite days were spent at Thompson’s Point, where she went every summer for 84 years. Few things made her happier than sitting on the porch and enjoying the view of Lake Champlain, playing tennis with friends, kayaking, and swimming.
She loved to plan trips and travel in the United States and abroad with friends and family. She visited France, Turkey, India, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Ireland, Scotland, Ecuador, England, Italy, the Galapagos, Egypt, Greece, Portugal, and Belgium.
Mrs. Coleburn was a devoted and loving wife, mother, and grandmother. Her friendships reached across several generations. Her enthusiasm for life, humor, and intelligence will be missed dearly.
In addition to her husband of 66 years, Kenneth Coleburn, she is survived by her children, William, Jacqueline, Robert, and Carolyn and their spouses, Mary Lou Coleburn, Robert McDonough, Robin Coleburn, and Harry Philbrick; four grandchildren, Andrew, Cameron, Kara, and Charlie, and her brother, Lynn Sackett.
A memorial service will be held for later this summer in Charlotte, Vermont.
Donations in Carolyn Coleburn’s memory may be made to The Ridgefield Library, 472 Main Street, Ridgefield, CT 06877.
