Obituary: Carol Mata, 73, Of Westport

Information via Harding Funeral Home

Mrs. Carol (Morehouse) Mata died peacefully at her home in Westport on Friday August 10, 2018 at the age of 73.

Carol is survived by her children, Angela Mata (Garry) Simpson, Carolina Mata and Pedro Pablo Mata; seven grandchildren, Nicholas, Alejandro, Katherine, Hannah, Enrique, Pedro Miguel and Patrick; brothers Andrew (Teresa) Morehouse and Bruce (Hollie) Morehouse; and countless nieces, nephews, cousins, adopted family and friends. She is preceded in death by her parents, Paul and Jean Morehouse.

Carol was born on September 17, 1944 in Penn Yan, NY. She attended Brockport State Teacher’s College for two years before raising three children with Pedro Mata. Together they lived in locations around the world including Ithaca and Staten Island, NY, Lima, Peru, Bogota and Cali, Colombia, Westport, CT, Singapore and Milwaukee, WI.

She worked as an executive secretary, bookkeeper and a full-time mother. She was an entrepreneur, starting a doll-making business in Peru, an Ecuadorean handcraft store in Westport called El Rondador and managing many rental properties.

She was a host mother to many foreign exchange students throughout the years and an adopted mother and grandmother by countless people around the world. Carol was one of the “Inward Bound” cruise directors, coordinating journeys with lifelong friends on the QEII and with her brother through New England and the Panama Canal.

She was a proud “Disney Princess” and spent countless hours at Walt Disney World.

Carol was an accomplished entertainer, party organizer and self-taught chef. She has welcomed hundreds of people into her home with unlimited warmth, elegance and epicurean treats.

She could be seen volunteering at the Westport Woman’s Club, leading the Yankee Doodle Fair, directing the Fairfield College Preparatory School annual auctions, cheering at the Staples High School tennis, football and rugby matches, fundraising for uniforms for the Staples Marching band, leading the conga line and cheering section at Silver Steel steel drum band concerts, attending dance recitals and art shows for her granddaughters, volunteering and serving as a eucharistic minister at St. Matthew Church, teaching religious education at Assumption Church and guiding events at the Saugatuck Harbor Yacht Club.

In her youth, she was a member of the Kennedy Corners Methodist Church Choir.

Carol was a breast cancer survivor and devoted her time to her charities, her church and most often, her grandchildren. She will be remembered by them as Gramma and Mima and as the lady that didn’t miss a concert, game, match, recital, birthday, graduation or opportunity to tell them how proud she was of them.

A funeral is scheduled for 11 a.m. on Tuesday, August 14 at St. Matthew Church (Scribner Avenue, Norwalk) with a celebration of life to follow at 1 p.m. at Saugatuck Harbor Yacht Club (Duck Pond Road, Westport). A private burial will take place near her parents in Ithaca, NY. All are welcome to attend and celebrate Carol’s life.

In lieu of flowers, please send donations in memory of Carol Mata to either Al’s Angels online at AlsAngels.org or by mail to Caroline House (574 Stillman St, Bridgeport, CT 06608). The family would like to thank all family and friends for their continued support.

Photo credit: John Lumb/Shutterstock.com