Carole Chen

Obituary for Carole Z. Chen. , Jan. 11, 2025

Carole Chen, a resident of Brookhaven CCRC, Lexington, MA died peacefully on January 11, 2025. She recently celebrated her 85 th  birthday with her family.
 
Carole was born in Shanghai during WWII when the city was under Japanese occupation. When the Communists won the civil war, her family was among the last to leave Shanghai for Hong Kong in 1949. They then went to Cuba, as the US was closed to most Chinese. She graduated from Ruston Academy in Havana, and then from Tufts University where during her freshman year she met her husband, Arthur, who was at MIT. They were married for 63 years.
 
Throughout her married life, Carole focused on raising her two children, ensuring they had the opportunities she never had. She was active in the Chinese American community in the Capital District of New York, especially at the Chinese Community Center, and later in its Chinese language school.  Carole was a private person and was very gifted with languages. She spoke three dialects of Chinese, as well as English and Spanish. She retained her Chinese writing skills from her youth and even corrected Arthur’s father’s mistake on one occasion. She also had a lot of common sense which helped Arthur in his career.
 
Carole had many hobbies, including flamenco dancing, gardening, Ikebana flower arrangements, crafts such as quilling, making Christmas decorations, and knitting beautiful sweaters. She loved to travel to exotic locations, where her talent for languages frequently came in handy.
 
She was beautiful both inside and outside. She was always modest about her beauty. One day, Arthur came home to find her very upset. Carole had found a wad of cash in front of a drugstore and did not know how to find the rightful owner. Arthur helped her to return the money to its owner, a weekly salary for him.
 
She is survived by her husband Arthur, daughter Holly (Eric Jones) and granddaughters Elana and Maya; son Alex (Kristi) and grandsons Andreas and Mattias; sister Jeanne; and nieces and nephews John, Fred, Greg, and Alexis. She was predeceased by her brother John and niece Sabrina.
 

She will be interred at Ferncliff Cemetery, Hartsdale, NY. There will be no services in the Boston area.

In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to the Alzheimer's Foundation or the Japanese Garden at the University of Washington Botanic Gardens.

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