Carolyn Ridpath of Montpelier, Vt., passed on July 29, 2026. Born on January 13, 1942, in Washington, D.C., to Warren H. and Frances E. Ridpath, she was a global citizen who spent time in many places around the world, first moving with her family as her father’s career required and later wherever her adventurous spirit led her. For all her life, she held a special place in her heart for the years of her childhood spent in the Mojave Desert living on the naval base in China Lake, Calif.
She had a lifelong passion for learning, with years of study at Antioch College and at the University of California at Berkely, where she obtained a certificate in industrial relations. In 1967, she obtained her certified public accountant (CPA) license, and in 2014 she earned her bachelor’s degree from Johnson State College, graduating summa cum laude. She also began a course of study with the Community College of Vermont in 1994 that would continue until the end of her life.
Self-described as eclectic and peripatetic, in 1973 Carolyn embarked on a major lifestyle change — she joined the carnival. Having purchased a concession for portrait photography, she and her family ranged across Canada and the southern United States, participating in multiple exhibitions and state fairs throughout the 1970s. Among the thousands of portraits she took, whether it be families with children, motorcycle gangs or a troupe of 10-year-old clowns wanting to send a photo to their friend in the hospital, Carolyn always felt an emotional connection with those she photographed.
In 1980, she and her family left the carnival life and moved to Maine, where she settled into a more conventional career by comparison, drawing on her expertise as a CPA to establish her own accounting firm. To satisfy her need for deeper connections and community engagement, Carolyn also began a lifelong career of voluntarism while there. She participated in low-income neighborhood organizing, building playgrounds and stabilizing the management structure of the Family Crisis Shelter.
Consistent with her accounting career, she also volunteered for the Maine State Society of CPAs and the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA), and these efforts led to a job in Vermont as the executive director of the Vermont Society of CPAs. Aside from periods of self-employment, this was the position she enjoyed the most, as it allowed her to use all of her skills to achieve tangible results. She took great pride in achieving success in a male-dominated field where she was often the only female representative on multiple committees.
During this period, Carolyn worked in collaboration to rewrite the laws and rules for the practice of public accountancy and lobbied successfully to change laws guiding the State of Vermont’s accounting method. She served as the founder and first executive director of the New England Quality Review, a multistate organization that reviewed the financial statements of the CPA firms in New England. She was also instrumental in forming the Battered Women’s Services organization and the Vermont Women’s Fund.
After many years of work in the field of public accounting, Carolyn branched out again to begin a period of work in international development, first working on projects in Bulgaria and Macedonia with the Montpelier-based Institute for Sustainable Communities. She subsequently worked for Mercy Corps in Liberia as a finance manager and, at the age of 69, began a position with the Johns Hopkins University-directed nonprofit Jhpiego, working in Swaziland (now Eswatini). In total, her international development work took her to multiple countries, including 15 in Africa.
Carolyn retired from her final professional position with the Vermont Economic Development Authority in 2021. She continued working part time for various social service organizations and serving on city committees, with a specific focus on the homeless. Until her death, she was an active participant in Montpelier Senior Activity Center programs and engaged in genealogical research.
In 2016, Carolyn was diagnosed with multiple lung diseases and required oxygen 24-7. Anticipating her demise, she wrote and published her memoir, Having It All … But Not All at Once. The book was intended to create points of connection and context for her four children and three foster children, whose diverse backgrounds, experiences and achievements were a source of enormous pride for her. She also saw the memoir as “an invitation to others to tell their stories and begin the conversation with their children … [and] an invitation to empathy; the stories have a universality which may give insights into many of the problems that confront people. Most of all, it is about life fully lived, by someone who had it all.”
Carolyn is predeceased by her parents; brother, Brian Ridpath; former husbands, Robert E. Ramsdell and David B. Garfield; and former partner Fredrick Lee Villers Jr.
She is survived by her children, Blake Ramsdell and spouse Theresa, Ward Ramsdell and partner Angela Noble, Andy Segal and spouse Jennifer, and Fordyce Garfield and partner Lara Hubbard; foster children, Prince Leo Kponbowe, Lungile Zwane Sukati and Travis Napoli; and grandchildren, Zane, Mae, Jack, Ana and Anson. A special recognition goes to her stepsister, Cary Beth Vaughn, who “always had her back,” and to her good friend Terry Barber, who has always been there for her.
A Celebration of Life will be held on October 18, 2026, at the Unitarian Church of Montpelier, 130 Main St., Montpelier, VT.