Obituary of Carolyn DePodwin

DePodwin – Carolyn P. of Pompton Plains, N.J. died December 25, 2017. She will be dearly missed by all who knew her. Carolyn was born on April 18, 1921, in Brooklyn, N.Y. to Gustav and Emma (Allen) Ohlander. She graduated from Scarsdale High School, New York in 1939 and attended Middlebury College in Vermont, where she received her B.A. in English in 1943. She pursued graduate studies at Columbia University from 1945-46. Her first job after college was handling yellow fever vaccines at The Rockefeller Institute. Beginning in 1945, she worked as a procurement officer for the U.S. Government Printing Office and then The United Nations, stopping to raise a family during the Ike era, the Vietnam War years, and Nixon's Watergate. Her second career began in 1973 as a residential real estate broker in Maplewood, N.J. where she excelled for decades while managing a busy household. Carolyn kindled and cherished long-term friendships and even took to corresponding via an iPad into her nineties. Despite being legally blind since the age of 94, she routinely telephoned her college roommate on the occasion of her birthday. Loss of eyesight also did not stop Carolyn from devouring books. A Library of Congress reader device provided literary and historical connections when her world became dark. In her lifetime, she imbued compassion, respect, frugality, generosity, tenacity, and love. As a child of the Depression, she learned how to survive hard times, the value of a dollar and the benefits of hard work. She taught her family how to conserve, the value of education, and the enjoyment of nature, whether gardening, sailing and swimming, playing tennis, or working with one's hands while challenging one's mind. Her faith was ever deepening. Carolyn was predeceased by her beloved husband, Horace J. DePodwin, formerly of Maplewood, N.J. and by her sister, Margaret C. Ohlander of Roxbury, N.Y. Carolyn is survived by three loving children: Andrew; Margaret Harwood and her husband John Cissel; David and his wife Jeanne; and six grandchildren: Kevin DePodwin, Karen San Giacomo and her husband Edward; Daniel and his wife Becky; Michael; John Harwood; Maggie Harwood, and two great grandchildren. Memorial Service is planned for 11 am, Saturday, February 3, 2018 at the Wyoming Presbyterian Church, 432 Wyoming Ave, Millburn, NJ 07041.Donations are requested in lieu of flowers to the: Horace and Carolyn DePodwin Scholarship, c/o Rutgers University Foundation, attn.: Terri Suarez, Rutgers Business School Development Office, 1 Washington Park, 11th Floor, Newark, N.J. 07102; or Cedar Crest Resident Care Fund, ? Lauren Corrente, Cedar Crest, 1 Cedar Crest Drive, Pompton Plains, N.J. 07444, or an organization of your choice. To light an online condolence and leave a message for the family please visit www.gcfuneralhome.com