Carol Ann Beck

Carol Ann Beck, born on September 8, 1943, died on Sunday, November 17 dreaming of her husband and eternal love Robert Beck and their Heavenly disco return to Studio 54. Surf music and Elvis was her teenage soundtrack until ABBA and The BeeGees made way for The Moody Blues and Fleetwood Mac. Carol attended concerts into her eighties and music followed her everywhere.

Carol Ann Mercik and Bob Beck were married at The Mystic Seaport in Connecticut, sailed to Block Island, Rhode Island, for their honeymoon on Sea Farer, and four years later cruised to The Bahamas on their wooden sloop Dandelion with their daughter Jennifer. Carol prepared fresh fish for Tiger, their double-pawed orange tabby cat. They caught rainwater for drinking near remote islands, and hammered conch and octopus on the decks for supper. Carol homeschooled Jennifer in the Exuma Bahamas, and taught her to not be afraid of sharks.

Back from their voyage, Carol’s family settled in Longmeadow, Massachusetts. Carol enjoyed Jazzercise with legwarmers to match every leotard, and she loved Halloween. The residents of Longmeadow still remember the year she dressed as a Conehead from SNL’s famous skit. Carol worked as a Beautician and was a Hairstylist for over thirty years. Mildly athletic, she was a skier who enjoyed the lodge’s hot chocolate more than the chairlift. An incredible narrative photographer, she picked up her first camera in high school. Always an artist, loved ones could expect a handmade gift during the holidays.

Carol grew up in her father’s tomato field along the banks of the Shetucket River in Versailles, Connecticut. She is fondly remembered by cousins for cutting hair in her mom’s kitchen. Carol graduated from the Norwich Free Academy in 1961. Her parents met working at the local paper mill before her mother Helen was a seamstress at The American Velvet Company. In later years, Helen made green glass bottles and clock faces at the local glass factory. Her father Walter was a welder for General Dynamics Electric Boat’s Naval submarine fleet.

Carol was an impeccable picnic-er and was always ready for a beach day, even after her Lupus-induced sunshine allergy. Her fondest memories include Napatree Point in Watch Hill, Rhode Island and Misquamicut Beach in Westerly, Rhode Island. She loved bike riding the streets of Martha’s Vineyard, Block Island, and through Longmeadow’s neighborhoods on her blue Schwinn. She loved reading and, inspired by her favorite childhood novel Little Women, Carol delighted in ice skating on frozen ponds during Pioneer Valley’s harsh winters.

An avid sailor in all weather across The Atlantic Ocean’s Block Island, Long Island Sound, and Nantucket Sound, she was The Blue Ribbon Champion for her Scotch deviled eggs after races with The Baldwin Yacht Club. Carol and Bob spent their retirement years traversing the country in an RV to The Grand Canyon, Whidbey, and San Juan Island where her daughter’s family currently resides.

Ahead of her time in fashion, she wore gold and silver jewelry together, fur bathrobes at midnight, and spent most of her life looking up to see pictures in clouds. Carol loved thrifting and took Jennifer and her childhood friends to find gems often. Carol always wished on dandelions and said her prayers. She believed in God as much as she believed in constellations and superstitions. She wore Chanel #5, was rarely without a fresh coat of nail polish, had a smile in lipstick to greet the day, and always had her rosary to calm her busy fingers. When her daughter was young, Carol was her Brownie troop leader, school’s lunch/recess mother, and dance recital enthusiast. Sober for 37 years, Carol loved half mugs of tea with a splash of milk and a wicked good lobster roll. She knew the best spots to dig for clams, and if collecting seashells was an olympic sport, she was a gold medalist with glass jars full of sand dollars, lightning whelks, spotted slippers, tiger cowrie, and sunrise tellins.

Carol Ann Beck was a Florida resident for 27 years, a lifetime lover of popcorn at night and midday hot fudge sundae ice cream breaks. She made the most perfect cheese omelet. Carol enjoyed basket weaving, attended The Florida Academy of Baking for cake decorating, and cherished dinners with friends. Carol loved being a grandma and was a constant light in their lives.

Carol leaves behind her sister Helen Benoit of Connecticut, nieces, nephews, remarkable cousins, and a stepson with family in North Carolina. She joins her recently departed husband Bob and stepson David in Heaven. Her West Highland Terrier Ruby resides with her daughter Jennifer, son-in-law Luke, and granddaughters Betty, Lucy, and Olive in Washington State. They all miss her deeply.

A service for Carol will be held at Faith Lutheran Church in Punta Gorda, located at 4005 Palm Drive Punta Gorda, Florida on December 17, 2024. Her visitation will be from 10:00 am to 11:00 am, with a service to follow at 11:00 am. Her committal ceremony is scheduled at Sarasota National Cemetery on Tuesday December 17th, 2:00 pm. In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to Carol’s favorite cause: Friends of the Florida Panther Refuge.

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