Dorothy Roberts McCarten died February 3, 2020 at King Street Rehab Center in Rye Brook, New York, where she had received long-term care since December 2018. A longtime Rye resident, she was 93.
She is survived by her brother Peter and his wife Katherine of New London, Conn.; a cousin, Priscilla Gadinski of Michigan; and more distant relatives in Finland, the birthplace of her mother.
Born on June 24, 1928 in Brooklyn, N.Y., she was the daughter of Ester and Elihu Roberts. After graduating from The Berkeley Carroll School in Brooklyn, she attended New York University where she studied art and design.
While most of her adult life was devoted to being a homemaker, she was also a model for print advertising, and an accomplished artist who worked in watercolors, oil, pen, clay, and fabrics.
On December 29, 1951, she married Edward Robert (Bob) McCarten, embarking on a storied journey of mutual love and respect that lasted nearly a half-century. Mr. McCarten died in 1999.
In 1957, after the death of her mother, Dorothy’s brother Peter, who was 21 years her junior, came to live with Dorothy and Bob.
The McCartens purchased their first house, on Everett Street in Rye, in 1961. They also maintained strong connections to Vermont, where Dorothy’s father was born, and trips there to visit friends and family were frequent. “Dorothy, the girl from Brooklyn, thrived in the rural life of the Green Mountain State,” said her brother.
Bob McCarten’s love for sailing was a part of their Rye life that Dorothy also came to love. Starting with a 9-foot Dyer Dhow, they plied the waters off Rye graduating to larger class boats every few years. They were a fixture at the Rye Boat Basin.
Active in her community, Mrs. McCarten volunteered at the Rye Free Reading Room and the Mothers Guild of Rye High School, taught art classes at Wainwright House, and was a member and volunteer at Rye Presbyterian Church.
In addition to the staff of King Street Rehab, the family would like to extend special thanks to Greg and Beth Brinkman and Dr. James and Arline Doyle “who were always willing to help and keep an eye on Dorothy in her final years.”
Dorothy McCarten’s ashes will be interned in late spring next to her husband’s at Pine Hill Cemetery in Sharon, Vermont
Donations in her memory may be made to The Berkeley Carroll School, 152 Sterling Place, Brooklyn, NY 11217.
