Wednesday, April 3, 2019
Written by Wendy Bowman
Yesterday my beautiful Mother, Carol-Noel Papsco ( nee Grubb) passed away. We will miss all the little things about Mom. The sound of her musical voice, her quick wit, her insightful intelligence and so much more. I remember how she would have the six brown lunch bags lined up for us each morning before we ran for the school bus. Every Saturday afternoon she would listen to Live at the Met to hear the opera, or listen to classical music on WQXR. Every night at 7 PM she and Dad loved to watch Jeopardy. Mom always had the right answers for over 90% of the categories. She was a Grand Champion on Jeopardy back in the 70"s and then was asked to come back for their 10th Anniversary Show. She was a former contestant who had a 10 year old child, My sister, Donielle came home with Huffy bike for just being on the show. Mom loved her books and was a regular at the Cold Spring Harbor library. She was always putting in requests for the latest historical novels, or off to Barnes and Nobles to add to her extensive book collection. She was a fantastic cook. She would find wonderful recipes from Gourmet Magazine or Bon Appetit and whip them up. Dad and my siblings were the lucky recipients of her delicious meals. I am thankful she shared some of her favorite recipes with many of us. Her Christmas cookies were the best! Mom also loved her cats. We had a few kitties while growing up and she loved them all. When she was a girl she would visit her grandmothers farm. Mom would name every single cat . It is so hard to write all about the various memories and interests of my Mom. She and my Dad loved to travel to Europe, the Caribbean, and parts of South of America. With each trip they came back and shared photos and insights of all the wonderful places they visited. Seeing the Hermitage in St. Petersburg was one of those trips that stood out. Mom would collect a tile for many of the cities they visited and bring it back to hang on the wall in their kitchen. Mom was fortunate to have seen so much of the world in her lifetime.
Mom was born in Chicago , IL on Christmas Day, 1928, and her family eventually settled in Alexandria, LA. Mom was so bright that she graduated from high school at age 16 and started to attend Louisiana College, and then earned a scholarship to Syracuse University. She graduated with a masters degree. That is where she met my Dad . He helped her climb a fence while she was running to a class. They were married on Aug 16, 1952. They were married for 66 years. Mom and Day had moved around a bit and lived for a short time in Oxforshire England when my Dad was stationed at the local US Air force base. Eventually they returned to the US and lived in Commack, NY and then finally moved to Lloyd Neck, in Huntington, NY Mom and Dad raised six of us, How they did it is still amazing to me. Mom worked as a volunteer for the Town of Huntington as an investigator for the newly established Bureau of Consumer Affairs. Mom became an investigator for Suffolk County Consumer Affairs and worked her way up to overseeing the Licensing Division of Suffolk County Consumer Affairs. Once she and my father retired they started to travel overseas. She loved all of us. She was a wonderful wife to my Dad. She was a devoted and loving mother to her six children, son and daughter in laws, and her 9 grandchildren and their spouses. We will miss you.
We love you Mom and thank you for all the wonderful memories.
