Carole Diane Lichtenstein passed away peacefully at her home in Stowe, Vt., on Saturday, January 27, 2024, barely more than a month after the death of her beloved husband, Steve. Carole and Steve would have celebrated their 66th wedding anniversary this August. They were rarely apart from one another in life and so, too, in death. They remained deeply in love to the very end.
Carole was born in Brooklyn in 1935 to loving parents Julius and Paula Goldstein. She grew up there with her older brother, Leroy, whom she admired and loved dearly. At 17, Carole was devastated by the news that Roy had been killed in the Korean war. The sadness was overwhelming and formative for Carole, who kept Roy in her heart for the rest of her life.
Carole was in her early twenties when she met Steve, a young law student in New York. Steve would later reminisce that when he first met Carole, “I was dumbstruck at this vision of beauty … and I knew at that very moment that this is the girl I was going to marry.” Carole felt an outpouring of affection upon meeting Steve and later told her children, “I felt like I was home.”
They married in 1958, and as Carole often reflected, “We were so happy together.” The joy of their romance overshadowed her lingering sadness over her brother’s death.
The couple raised their family of four children in Lawrence Township, N.J. Carole eventually pursued a master’s degree in counseling at nearby Rider College and worked for over a decade, helping students in need of emotional and psychological support.
Carole was a kind, generous and loving mother, wife and friend. She supported her husband, children, extended family and many close friends without hesitation, through good times and bad. She was a fierce advocate for those she loved. To her many grandchildren and great-grandchildren, Carole will always be Meemaw. She was there to comfort and counsel, to share a laugh and make a meal, to nurture and encourage, and to spoil a bit.
Carole loved a good joke and would laugh with abandon. She sang and played piano. She danced at parties. She wrote poetry and was a voracious reader. She was a lover of animals, especially her dogs, to whom she always fed scraps at the dinner table and with whom she and Steve routinely shared their bed. Carole was an optimist who could always find the good in a tough situation. She loved to help others and donated her time and money to many causes.
After many years as seasonal residents of Stowe, Carole and Steve made the town their full-time home in the early 2000s. You couldn’t drive down the road without Carole urging you to marvel at the beautiful scenery, which she never took for granted. Carole was a founding member of the town’s first synagogue, the Jewish Community of Greater Stowe. Well into her eighties, she stayed busy organizing educational, artistic and cultural programs at JCOGS.
As her health failed in recent years, Carole focused on giving comfort and direction to Steve, who was struggling with dementia. Steve did everything he could to help Carole with her physical disabilities. Carole was the brain and Steve was the brawn in the twilight of their never-ending romance. It was Carole’s final act of love to hang on to life until her beloved Steve no longer needed her help. After giving herself some time to grieve, she was then ready to join him.
Carole Lichtenstein was preceded in death by her parents, Paula and Julius; brother, Leroy (Cindy Beer); and husband, Steve. She is survived by her children, Lee Lichtenstein (Cyndi Snyder), Holly Lichtenstein, Paul Lichtenstein (Kathy), and Matthew Lichtenstein (Hilary Wood); nine grandchildren (and their partners), Sara Rose, Elias, Eisha, Pamela, Sophia, Julian, Tara, Naomi and Gabriel; and three great-grandchildren, Penina, Eitan and Skylar.
A graveside funeral was held on January 30 at the JCOGS Cemetery, Darchei Shalom (Paths of Peace) in Morrisville, Vt.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Jewish Community of Greater Stowe and Lamoille Home Health and Hospice.
This article appears in Love & Marriage Issue 2024.