Carolyn Hauben of New Rochelle, NY, passed away on March 2nd, just two days after her 82nd birthday. A proud Leap Day baby, she was born in Akron, OH on February 29, 1944 to Frances Fink DeCenso Vincent and Elpedio DeCenso, who died when she was an infant. Carolyn grew up in Kent, OH, with her sister Doris and brother Tom. After graduating from Theodore Roosevelt High School, she attended Mount Sinai School of Nursing (Cleveland, OH) and embarked on a lifelong nursing career that took her to Rhode Island Hospital in Providence, RI, Akron General Hospital in Akron, OH, and Stamford Hospital in Stamford, CT, working in the operating room and ultimately managing surgical scheduling and pre-anesthesia testing before her retirement. Carolyn married Bruce Hauben in 1964 with whom she had three sons, Jason, Michael, and Craig.
Carolyn was a woman of many talents and interests, participating in community theater, taking up skiing as an adult, shaking her groove thing on the disco dance floor back in the day (including a wicked James Brown dance impression), taking continuing education classes after retirement, and growing orchids. She devoured books of all kinds, with favorites ranging from books about Theodore Roosevelt to Salman Rushdie's The Moor's Last Sigh to her favorite novel, Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Carolyn was passionate about music from a range of genres—classical, jazz, Broadway, soul, and rock—and loved live performance. She loved the outdoors and travel, ranging from trips to the ocean to hiking in national parks to solo ventures in Spain, pursuing the study of Spanish in the process. Carolyn appreciated design and craftsmanship, and became a prodigious knitter in retirement, wrapping loved ones and their loved ones in handknits.
But above all, Carolyn loved her family. After she and her husband divorced, they continued to celebrate shared family holidays with their children and their families. Carolyn is survived by her three sons and daughters-in-law: Jason and Karen (Aboud) Hauben (Darien, CT), Michael and Susan (Devey) Hauben (Ormond Beach, FL), and Craig Hauben and Maria Elena Alvarado (Miami, FL). Carolyn was a devoted Nonna to her eight grandchildren: Madeleine, William, Lauren, Griffin, Carson, Wyatt, Ethan, and Piper. She is also survived by her sister Doris Hartheimer and several nieces and nephews. Carolyn was predeceased by her parents and her beloved brother Tom. A private celebration of life will be held at a later date.
