Obituary of Carol Carpenter Bisbee

Carol Carpenter Bisbee of Belfast, 92, died peacefully at home on July 26, 2018. Carol was born in New York City to William Chase and Katherine (McCurdy) Carpenter on December 18, 1925, and was raised in New York City area towns of North Tarrytown, Chappaqua and Riverdale. But after attending Colby College and meeting and marrying the love of her life Spaulding “Joe” Bisbee, Jr., she quickly became a true Mainer and a member of the extended Bisbee family in heart and soul. Carol and Joe began their life together in Waterville, where they met lifelong friends, and where their four children were born. But it was Belfast that became Carol’s cherished home for over 60 years. The family’s home by the shore of Penobscot Bay -- where they moved to be able to watch Joe pass by on the tug -- became her home base until the last. She expressed her gratitude each day for the life she had in her hometown. She developed new friendships all along the way, and just loved her “young” friends – from the First Church, Pen Bay Singers, the Belfast Free Library, Waldo County General Hospital, the Maskers Theater, the YMCA, Senior College and all the newest friends she would meet at the Visitors Center for the Chamber of Commerce. Carol began realizing her lifelong dream of world travel with 5 trips to various destinations in Europe in the 1970’s and 1980’s. After retiring in 1992, she expanded her travel itineraries and eventually visited all 7 continents. Her last major excursion was to Egypt in 2006. As much as she cherished those travel opportunities, she enjoyed the relationships with her fellow travelers more – and, of course, the penguins in Antarctica where she visited in 2002! She had a lifelong passion for education – for herself, for her children and for the students of the Northport, Searsport and Belfast schools where she devoted 32 years as a classroom teacher. She was rightly proud of the lives she touched in that way. She herself graduated from George Washington High School in NYC in 1943, attended Colby College from 1945-48 after training at the Engineering War Course for Women at Johns Hopkins University in 1943-44 and supported the war effort as a draftsman in the Engineering Department of the Glenn L. Martin Company in 1944-45. She returned to college and obtained her B.S in education in 1963 and a master’s degree in 1968 from the University of Maine, Orono. She continued her own education at Senior College past the age of 90. She was predeceased by husband, Spaulding Bisbee, Jr. in 1974 and by her sister, Edith Carpenter Sweeney, in 2013. She is survived by her sons Spaulding Bisbee III and his wife, Kandace of Westminster, Vermont; William Carpenter Bisbee and his wife, Elaine of Rockport, Maine; George Dana Bisbee and his wife, Pamela Murphy of Hampton, NH; and daughter Katherine Lee Bisbee Eldridge and her husband, Scott of Winthrop, Maine, 14 grandchildren and 18 great grandchildren, and numerous dear nieces and nephews. Carol’s children would like to express their appreciation for her friends and colleagues in Belfast whose love and support made such a positive difference in her life. The family also gives sincere, special thanks for the expert and compassionate care tended to her by the caregivers from Private Home Care, Inc. A memorial service to celebrate her life will be held at the First Church in Belfast at 11 a.m. on September 1, 2018. In lieu of flowers, please consider donations to the First Church of Belfast, 8 Court Street, Belfast, Maine 04915 or to the Pen Bay Singers, PO Box 5, Belfast, Maine 04915.