Carol (Meikle) Moulton

Carol Meikle Moulton, 84, passed away peacefully at her home on November 23, 2022 attended by her loving spouse, Linda Kaminski, and her beloved granddaughter, Hannah Gladczuk. Carol was born in Willimantic, to Thomas Joseph and Martha (Lux) Meikle, and spent the first years of her life with her folks and siblings on her grandparents’ Louis and Carrie Lux’s chicken farm in North Windham.  When her grandparents retired and sold the farm, Tom and Martha moved the family to Mansfield Center. Carol raised her two daughters Macy Moulton and Carrie Moulton, in South Windsor, CT with her ex-husband, Gardner Moulton, and then, in 1975, she settled back into her family home in Mansfield Center with Linda, where she spent the rest of her life.

Carol was part of the crest of 1970’s second-wave feminism, and worked her whole life for women’s rights, especially girls’ equal access to education and sports programs, through political action, “consciousness raising” and by having the courage to live exactly how she wanted to live and not being afraid to be a thorn in the side of anyone who might stand in the way of her being unapologetically, decidedly, precisely, herself.

A talented athlete, she was voted best female athlete in her senior class (1956) at Windham High School. At various times in her life she enjoyed hiking, canoeing, skiing, yoga, swimming and walking. Later in life she regularly took exercise classes at the Mansfield Senior Center. And after she was diagnosed with Parkinsons, as her physical capabilities declined, she participated in what she jokingly called “end of the line exercises” at GoodLife Fitness, where “we just try our best to get across the room and back.”

After graduating from Windham High School, she enrolled in what was then Eastern Connecticut State Teachers College. Her studies were interrupted when she got her first job at Travelers Insurance Company, and then started a family. Later, she resumed her studies, first at Manchester Community College, then transferring to and graduating from Eastern Connecticut State University in 1978, with a BA in History. She became an honorary member of the ECSTC/ECSU class of 1960, and regularly lunched with her fellow alumni from her original college class. 

Carol also enjoyed periodic reunions with other folks who were important in her life. She regularly attended reunions of folks from the Girl Scout camp, Camp Natarswi, in Millinocket, Maine she attended in the 1950s, and reunions of the Appalachian Mountain Club “canoe gang,” who regularly paddled together in the 1960s and early 70s.

She was a university library assistant at UConn Homer Babbidge Library for many years, a perfect job for someone with wide ranging intellectual interests. She was always bringing home some odd book from special collections that summarized studies of fungi or gender issues or who knows what. She also wrote poetry and enjoyed literature of all kinds.

Carol loved the outdoors and the natural world, loved native plants, and could identify nearly every plant on any walk she took in eastern Connecticut. She was also an excellent wild food forager and cook. She identified and picked edible wild mushrooms, made grape jelly from wild grapes, strawberry shortcake from wild strawberries, pies from wild blueberries, fermented dandelion wine, boiled and sauteed shoots and roots of cattails, and tapped maple trees to make maple syrup.

More than anything, Carol was a maker, especially with her partner in crime, Linda. Together, they carved innumerable walking sticks and flutes, wove looper-loom potholder rugs, arranged wildflowers, assembled wooden sculptures, caned chairs and reupholstered furniture, dyed wool with homemade natural dyes made from nutshells and dried plants, smoked salmon, and conceived and executed all kinds of crafty items (lampshades, quilts, felt hats, dried mushrooms carved with mermaids and fairies, rugs, mobiles, sewing boxes, treasure boxes, songbooks, pet “doggies” made from dried and painted turkey bones . . . the list goes on . ..)  

for their beloved granddaughters, Hannah and Lillian.

Throughout her last illness, she was so fortunate to have been cared for by her devoted spouse, Linda, whose love and dedication made every day comfortable and joyful for her. In this, Linda was assisted by their granddaughter Hannah, whose expertise as an RN provided invaluable guidance and support. We’d also like to thank the staff of Happy Home Care, especially Francine, who was always gentle and attentive to all of Carol’s needs, and to the staff of Hartford Health Care at Home’s palliative and hospice care groups.

In addition to Linda, Carol is survived by daughters Macy Moulton of Waitsfield, VT and Carrie Moulton of Oakland, CA, granddaughters Hannah Gladczuk of Mansfield Center and Lillian Allen of San Luis Obispo, CA, sister Mary Ellen Dyak of Mansfield Center, and brothers Phillip Meikle of North Ridgeville, OH and Robert Meikle of Carey, NC and their spouses, as well as numerous nieces and nephews and their children and grandchildren. She was predeceased by two other brothers, Thomas Meikle and David Meikle.  Carol’s family will receive relatives and friends on Saturday, December 10, 2022 from 1:00pm to 2:00pm at Potter Funeral Home, 456 Jackson St., Willimantic, with her funeral service beginning at 2:00pm.  

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