Margaret Carroll

CHESHIRE-Margaret A. (Marge) Carroll died January 10 at St Mary's hospital in Waterbury. She was born on March 2, 1923 on Rose Street in Waterbury to Marie (Hassler) and John J. Healey.

Both of her father's parents Margaret (Slattery) and Patrick Healey were emigrants from County Kerry, Ireland. Her maternal lineage was German. Her grandfather Emil Hassler was an emigrant from the German city of Sondershausen while her grandmother Frieda (Fischer) Hassler was the daughter of emigrants from small villages near Stuttgart.

Shortly after her birth, her parents moved the family to the second floor of a 3 family house at 14 Coe Street which had been purchased several years earlier by the elder Healeys. She grew up in that house which was to serve for more than 50 years as the focal point for the Healey clan, ultimately inhabited by 4 generations of the extended family. Her growing up years were spent in a rich ethnic and social environment inhabited not only by her parents but her widowed Irish grandmother and German grandfather, three "maiden" aunts , an uncle, his spouse and two cousins. Her parents had a large circle of friends always coming and going and Marge quickly learned social skills which were to serve her throughout her life. Her formerly Lutheran mother Marie had converted to Catholicism upon her marriage to John Healey and thus Marge grew up a devout Catholic. She attended St Mary's school and graduated in the class of 1940 from Waterbury Catholic High. She grew up tap dancing and playing piano and clarinet. She had a remarkable talent for the piano and could play music "by ear". She attended St Joseph's College in Hartford but her college career was cut short by a horse riding accident. Upon recovery she went to work briefly for the Naugatuck Valley Produce Company in Waterbury and then for 14 years for Uniroyal (then U.S. Rubber) in Naugatuck.

After the war she met her future husband James Carroll at a German "Sangerfest" in Waterbury. He was a recently returned army veteran who grew up in Prospect and was also descended from grandparents born in County Kerry. The couple was married on July 1, 1950 in the Immaculate Conception church and lived for 5 years with her parents in the house on Coe Street. Their elder son Matthew was born in 1955 and in 1956 the family moved from Waterbury to Peck Lane in Cheshire. Their younger son Luke was born in 1962.

Upon moving to Cheshire the family became communicants of St Bridget's church where Marge sang in the choir. When the Epiphany parish was split off from St Bridget's, the Carrolls became one of the founding families in the new parish and for the next 40 years Marge played an active part in parish activities including becoming one of the church organists. She also sang with the "Prospector's" singing group in Prospect for about 10 years. Like her parents before her, Marge, along with husband Jim, cultivated a large circle of friends to whom she was nearly as devoted as she was to her own family. No birthdays were forgotten nor baptisms, weddings or funerals left unacknowledged by the Carroll household. After the children got a little older, Marge worked in a series of jobs including returning for a few additional years with Uniroyal and a brief stint working i for LaSalette Seminary in Cheshire. She finished her working career with a 14 year stint in the dental office of Dr. Richard Boland in Cheshire, a position she described as "the best job I ever had".

Her husband Jim died in 1986. Marge is survived by two sons, Matthew S. Carroll in Troy, Idaho and Luke D. Carroll in Cheshire and three grandchildren, Matthew J. Carroll a cadet at West Point in New York and Megan and Coleen Carroll of Cheshire.

Arrangements - Funeral services will be held on Friday January 14, 2011 9:00 from the Alderson Funeral Home of Cheshire, 615 S. Main St. to Church of the Epiphany for Mass at 10 a.m. Burial will follow in St Bridget's Cemetery. Calling hours will be held on Thursday from 6 to 8 at the funeral home. Memorial contributions may be made to Church of the Epiphany 1750 Huckins Rd. Cheshire, CT 06410.