Carole Joy Spachner Seelen, 86, of Naples, Florida, died on February 10, 2020 at Massachusetts General Hospital of complications from cancer. Carole was preceded in death by her husband, Mark B. Seelen, Jr. of Naples, Florida and East Orleans, Massachusetts, her son, Geoffrey W. Seelen of Boston, Massachusetts as well as her granddaughter Elizabeth M. Seelen of Falmouth, Maine. Carole is survived by her children, John V. and his wife Lisa G., of Marlborough, New Hampshire, Mark A. and his wife, Barbara M., of Falmouth, Maine, and Victoria A. and her husband, Tad Lawrence, of Roslindale, Massachusetts. She was the proud and adoring grandmother of Mark (wife Allie), Kathryn, Caroline, Geoffrey (wife Katie Murray), and William Seelen, as well as Kat (husband Chee Leung) and Jennifer Lawrence. She was also the proud great grandmother to Finn, Jack, Hadley and Cole Seelen of Hamilton, Massachusetts.
Carole was born in Chicago, Illinois to John V. and Beatrice T. Spachner and grew up in the suburb of Highland Park. Carole’s upbringing included significant exposure to music, as her mother was a classical violinist. Carole attended Sarah Lawrence College where she majored in English and Music. While in Bronxville, New York, she met Mark, the love of her life; Mark and Carole were married on August 3, 1953. At the time of her graduation from Sarah Lawrence (’54), Carole was expecting her first-born son, John. Carole spent the next twenty-five years or so raising her family in Pleasantville, New York, encouraging her children to excel both in academics and sports. Two of her sons, John and Geoffrey, attended Harvard University where they competed on the swim team. Carole had a strong personality and attention to detail, thus her children often remarked that she should have run a corporation. Carole and Mark started vacationing on Cape Cod in the mid 60s, eventually settling in Orleans. Carole loved the view from her back deck. A knitter, boater, water skier, golfer and lifelong reader of best sellers and the New York Times, Carole enjoyed cooking, and she thoroughly enjoyed routinely going out to dinner or the dinners prepared at home by her children and grandchildren, especially Maine lobster. Carole’s family would like to acknowledge her friends and caregivers, and; in particular, Suzette Hutchinson and Sarah Scammon Cutrell, who made it possible for her to remain in her home in Orleans until her death. A private memorial for Carole will be held in the spring. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Carole’s memory and her mother’s, Beatrice T. Spachner to The Auditorium Theatre of Chicago.
For online condolences, please visit www.nickersonfunerals.com
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