Caroline Elizabeth Kane

Caroline Elizabeth Kane, age 46 and daughter of Gustav Seelaus Kane and Judith Virginia Tintle Kane, died peacefully on January 31, 2023, in Newport Beach, California, after a long battle with cancer. She was born on July 26, 1976, in Summit, New Jersey.

In addition to her parents, Caroline is survived by her brother Christopher Seelaus Kane and his two children, Lauren Nicole Kane and Christopher William Kane; her sister Whitney Elizabeth Kane Gomez (husband Michael Albert Gomez) and their three children, Isabel Kane Gomez, Alexandra Consuelo Gomez, and Charles Michael Gomez. Also surviving are many beloved cousins and other family members, as well as an extended group of friends and animals.

A precocious child, Caroline grew up in the town of Madison, New Jersey, attended local schools, and played on co-ed Little League Baseball teams and the Madison High School field hockey team. During the summers in high school, she enjoyed her work maintaining the greenhouse and creating floral arrangements at J&M Plant and Wicker in Madison. After attending the National Science Foundation-funded Young Scholars Program at Colorado State University (CSU), Caroline graduated from high school a year early in order to return to Fort Collins and further advance her interest in science. As a member of the CSU Biology Honors Program, Caroline lectured a group of 75 students twice a week for six semesters, developed and implemented a psychoneuroimmunology course, and co-authored a laboratory manual. She very memorably served as a Research Assistant for the Agriculture Research Development Center in Mountain Vista, Colorado, and determined molecular markers among different strains of bean and onion plants. Caroline earned her Bachelor of Science with a double major in Biological Science and Zoology from CSU in 1998. Eleven years after earning her undergraduate degree, Caroline graduated from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition in New York City, becoming a holistic health practitioner.

Caroline began her career as a Pharmaceutical Sales Specialist for AstraZeneca in 1998, and she earned the President’s Circle of Excellence in 1999. She then moved up the ladder at Johnson & Johnson and Obaji (cosmeceuticals) and joined Galderma (a subsidiary of Nestle-Switzerland) in 2007. During Caroline’s career at Galderma, she earned at least two President’s Club awards and two Sales Cup awards. Caroline’s most recent position at Galderma was as a Corporate Account Manager, covering the western area of the United States.

Caroline had a world-wide collection of wonderful, close, creative, and eclectic friends. With many of them (and her family), she traveled the globe and especially loved her trips to Costa Rica, Egypt, France, Hawaii, New York City, Peru, Russia, South Africa, and the United Kingdom. During her illness, she traveled to India with an extended friend group to visit the Gaden Shartse Monastery, where His Holiness the Dalai Lama was in residence, for the celebration of the 600th year anniversary of the ascension to Parinirvana of the Great Lama Tsongkhapa. Prior to her death, 1,000 monks at the Gaden Shartse Monastery prayed for her and will continue to pray for her for 49 days after her death.

A committed vegan and animal rights advocate for almost thirty-five years, Caroline’s knowledge of and love for the animal world led her to many volunteer activities focused on animal rescue and conservation. The major portion of her estate will go to eleven organizations she supported, all of which care for animals, the environment, women, or homeless youth.

Over her lifetime, Caroline rescued and loved more than a dozen dogs. One of her earlier rescues was a half-wolf named Shiva - a challenge to train. Her other much-adored dogs were Lyle, Timber, Quinn, Rex, Cosmo, Kona, Moonie, and Addie. The dogs of all of her friends and family counted Caroline as one of their favorite humans. For more than twenty-five years Caroline shared her home with a large tank of fish, once carrying water for the fish tank on her lap during her move from Colorado to California. Her four beloved loaches are twenty-two years old and will be adopted by a dear fish and animal lover.

Caroline was a certified scuba diver, surfer, sky-diver, and skier, and she never hesitated to undertake these activities in the most adventurous of places. She once came nose-to-nose with a shark while exploring a pitch black underground ocean cave in Mexico using guide ropes and a headlamp. She remembered this interaction with the shark, to whom she radiated peace and love, as one of her closest connections with a member of the animal kingdom. A highly spiritual person and seeker, she was a constant reader and learner, especially in the fields of medical science, alternative healing, nutrition, Egyptology, Buddhism, Gnosticism and other religions, as well as quantum physics and life in outer space.

Caroline, who was extremely bright, funny, and communicative, maintained an extensive circle of friends. A weaver of relationships from all walks of life, she stayed connected to many people who crossed her path. Caroline ignored stereotypical barriers and gathered people together from her childhood, high school, and college years, her professional career, animal rights efforts, as well as those she met in the cities in which she lived. Over the final weeks of her life, Caroline was showered with love by friends and family who visited her from the Los Angeles area, Portland, Cleveland, Toronto, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, South Carolina, and South Africa. This outpouring of kindness has been of great comfort to Caroline’s family.

A small burial service is being held at Pacific View Memorial Park in Newport Beach, California, and Caroline chose as her epitaph ‘May All Beings Be Happy, ’ a Buddhist mantra. A graveside service later this year will also be held at a large family plot in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Philadelphia. Per Caroline’s wishes, some of her ashes will be sprinkled over the Hawaiian Islands and taken to Varanasi, India. A large celebration of life will be held at a future date in Los Angeles.

If you are so inclined, our family requests that instead of flowers you consider a small donation in Caroline’s honor to one of the charities that she has supported both in her life and her death:

My Friend's Place (https://www.myfriendsplace.org)

Oceana (https://oceana.org)

Performing Animal Welfare Society(http://www.pawsweb.org)

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.pacificviewcalifornia.com for the Kane family.