Carol Levine

Carol graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1949 from University of Vermont, where she met her beloved husband, the late Julian Levine, MD, standing on the steps of the local synagogue, avoiding Yom Kippur services. They went on to share more than 50 years of love, devotion, four children and much laughter. They were loving, kind, brilliant, generous, hard-working and deeply funny people. And there is absolutely no truth to the rumor that Julian married her because she lived near Ebbetts Field, home of the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Carol received her Master’s of Education in 1972 from Fairfield University, and a certificate in botany in 1975 from The New York Botanical Garden. After working for many years in her husband’s medical practice, she went on to teach botany for more than 35 years at the Garden, where she was once named Teacher of the Year, and at the Bartlett Arboretum in Stamford, where she also served on the Board of Directors.

Her book, A Guide to Wildflowers in Winter: Herbaceous Plants of Northeastern North America, published by Yale University Press, 1995, was called “a classic of American botanical literature.” She was also a member of Connecticut Botanical Society, Connecticut-Westchester Mycological Society, New England Wildflower Society, and Torrey Botanical Society.

Carol was never happier than when she was in nature, and hiked every Monday with her ALFASAC group (Audubon Ladies Fresh Air and Standing Around Club) into her 90s.

Carol’s heart had no limits. Family and friends were everything to her. Once you were hers, you were hers forever. If there was ever anything wrong (or right) with your life, she was the first one on your doorstep with homemade carrot soup, her world famous brisket or pecan pie. She lived in terror of an unfed stomach under her roof, and her magical freezer always held a few dinners for the thousands she expected to drop by at any moment. There was always room for one more at her table.

If there was anything Carol loathed, it was to be idle, hence her nickname The Energizer Bunny. She loved to travel and visited all seven continents, including Antarctica. Her car had two speeds: fast and faster. (Alternate nickname: Leadfoot Louie.) Insatiably curious, she never stopped reading or learning. She once took off in the midst of an evening storm to attend a lecture on the dung beetle.

Queen of the side eye and eye roll, Carol loved to laugh, and could be quite mischievous. (Ask her daughter who once came home to find the dirty dishes she didn’t wash made up into her bed.) She was game for just about anything, and could make any mundane outing into an adventure. She could get just as excited to go to the town dump as she was to go down the Amazon River in a canoe. She could also toss off a pretty energetic tap dance while (quite tunelessly) belting out, “East Side, West Side.”

Carol is survived by her four children, Laura Levine, PhD (Richard Ketai, MD), Glastonbury, CT; Martha Levine (Marty Kaminsky), Ithaca, NY; Jon Levine, PhD (Claudia Cryer), Madison, WI; Beth Levine (William Squier), Stamford, CT; eight grandchildren, four great-grandchildren, many nieces and nephews, and her dear friend, sister and partner-in-crime, Louise Stern, Stamford, CT. She was predeceased by her parents, her husband, and two brothers, Drs. Daniel and Maimon Leavitt.

Many thanks from the family to the angels of Sunrise of Stamford, Jewish Family Services and Constellation Hospice who made her last days so much easier.

A memorial service will be held at a later date. As Carol would have said, “Please, don’t fuss!”

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to The Bartlett Arboretum, 151 Brookdale Rd, Stamford, CT 06903.