Carol Ross was an extraordinary person. She will be greatly missed and remembered with great fondness. A long-time advisor to our center and chair of our Advisory Council for two terms, we all came to know Carol as smart, thoughtful, and forward-looking. When she ceded the Advisory Council Chair to Susanna Krenz, Carol reflected, “After I joined the Advisory Council, I quickly found this was where I belonged because I could be a voice for women.” Carol was an active and contributing member of our center until the time of her death.
Carol was committed to learning, reading, music, gardening, and she loved to laugh at a good joke. She never ceased to amaze me in terms of what she knew and did. One day, as we sat in my office talking about historical remedies for common ailments, I raised the notion that some say elderberry syrup can be useful in treating symptoms of a cold. Carol responded by saying, “Oh, yes, last night I was reading Pliny the Elder, and he wrote about the medicinal use of elderberry.” I said, “Wait, you were reading Pliny the Elder?” “Yes,” she said. “Were you reading it in Latin?” I asked. “Oh yes,” Carol said, and moved on to recount how she continues to read the original classics from time to time.
Carol received her college degree from Wheaton College, majoring in the Classics, and pursued an advanced degree at Bryn Mawr College in Latin Literature and Roman History. She had a long and distinguished career as a teacher of Greek and Latin with positions at The Foote School, Wilbur Cross High School, Hopkins School, and Choate Rosemary Hall. She was an active member of the New Haven community and integral to the success of organizations and initiatives such as the Neighborhood Music School, the Garden Club of New Haven, Connecticut Arts Alliance, the New Haven Symphony Orchestra, and the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven’s Community Fund for Women and Girls, for which she was a founding member, to name a few.
As Carol faced personal loss as well as health challenges in her life, we also saw her courage and strength. She never stopped committing herself to working with others toward helping our community. We are better for having known Carol and extend our heartfelt condolences to her family.