Elliott Wesley Carten

Elliott, known to his family and friends as “Robby,” moved with his family from Baltimore to New York City at the age of three, taking up residence on the upper west side so his father could pursue a career in music.

He attended Morning Side and Westside Montessori schools for his preschool education. His elementary education was completed at Manhattan Country School and Walden High School. Both schools were among the city’s most well-known progressive educational institutions, and he made lifelong friendships and connections with an amazing group of individuals who remained among his network of friends and colleagues.

Given both schools’ curricular emphasis on diversity and multiculturalism, Robby’s circle of friends has always resembled the United Nations! The high school class trip he took to Mexico City and the experience of living with a host family were among Robby’s most memorable and fun-filled experiences.

After graduating from high school, Robby attended Clark College in Wooster, MA, where he majored in sociology. With a minor in art history, he enrolled in a study-abroad program during which he made sketches of ancient ruins in Italy. His sketch of Julius Caesar’s profile held a permanent place on the wall of each home in which his mother, Dr. Alma CARTEN, has lived.

After graduating from Clark, Robby worked for social welfare agencies and soon decided—with his mother’s encouragement—to pursue his MSW, which he earned from the NYU Silver School of Social Work in May 2000.

Robby had a long career in service, practicing in some of NYC’s most well-known agencies in challenging fields of social work practice, including child welfare, mental health, homelessness, domestic violence, HIV/AIDS, and addiction. At the time of his passing, he was employed at Catholic Guardian Services as the clinical director of foster care services in the agency’s Bronx Office.

Robby passed at his home of natural causes on 9/27/2023. His passing was related to the underlying medical conditions that he had been successfully managing until that time.

Good son that he always was, at the time of his passing, he had put in place an aftercare plan for his mother, who was recovering from surgery.

Robby’s life was cut too short, but it was a life well lived. He was well loved and admired by his family, colleagues and those whom he served.

He is survived by his mother Dr. Alma J. CARTEN, father Robert Elliott CARTEN, maternal aunts and uncle Clarice Prevost and Pamela Denise Parkman and Ralph Tyrone Parkman, as well as paternal aunt Coralyce Williams CARTEN. He leaves behind many first cousins in his mother’s and father’s lineages and an uncountable number of friends and colleagues.