Carole Larsen Was Clerk for Menemsha Post Office

Carole Elizabeth (Smith) Larsen of Menemsha died Thursday morning, July 6, at the Martha's Vineyard Community Hospital after a long illness. She was 70.

Aunt Carole, as she was known around the docks in Menemsha, always had a smile on her face and was the most optimistic person with a kind and encouraging word.

She was a lifelong Island resident, born in Oak Bluffs on Sept. 3, 1935, the daughter of Stanley and Marguerite G. (Simpson) Smith, both Island natives themselves. She attended the Edgartown School system at the time and was graduated from the Tisbury High School.

In October 1956 she married Dagbard Karsten Larsen, who predeceased her in December 1979, and settled in their home in Menemsha. She raised their children, while Dagbard earned his living fishing and scalloping. She was the first woman to fish the harbor of Menemsha by helping Dagbard with his bay scalloping in the winter time.

Carole was never without something to do - she always worked hard, tackling whatever task needed to be done. She was a clerk for the Menemsha post office.

When she learned that her husband was leaving for a fishing trip to Cape May, N.J., she insisted on going with him instead of staying home. He loaded their car on the fishing boat and took her and three children to Cape May.

Carole was the custodian for the town of Chilmark from 1984 until 2002. Prior to that, she operated her own bed and breakfast, the Capt. D. Larsen House, where she met wonderful people from all over the world. She was the assistant town constable and enjoyed cribbage and bingo.

She did all these things fore-mentioned and still found time to help run Larsen Fish Market and cook up their famous boiled lobsters and chowder. At home she would make her well-known beach plum jelly. Her baking and cooking skills were shown off at the Chilmark Community Center flea market; people loved her lobster rolls and quahaug chowder.

She always made you feel at home and welcomed you as part of the family, especially around hunting season when the hunters would gather around the kitchen table for something to eat and the latest news.

Carole was loved by all and her presence will be missed by all, down at the docks, in Menemsha and across the Island as a whole, especially by her family.

She is survived by two sons, Stanley L. Larsen and his wife, Lanette, of Chilmark and Karsten D. Larsen of Menemsha, and a surrogate son, Gordon Perry of Aquinnah; two daughters, Debbie K. Larsen of Bourne and Lisa Larsen and her partner, Steven Dowler, of Vineyard Haven; six grandchildren, Tanya, Erik, Nathan and Janelle Larsen, Jaime Larsen-Conroy and Jesse Larsen-Conroy; two brothers, Nelson Smith and Michael Smith, both of Edgartown; and a sister, Mary Larsen of Chilmark; and many special nieces and nephews and son in law Larry Conroy of Vineyard Haven. She was predeceased by her siblings, Bill, George and Mark Smith, Catherine Duval and Diane Osbaldeston.

A celebration of her life will be held at the home of her sister, Mary, and Louis Larsen at Beetlebung Corner in Chilmark on Wednesday, July 12 at 2 p.m.

Donations may be made in her memory to a charity of one's choice. Arrangements are under the care of the Chapman, Cole & Gleason Funeral Home in Oak Bluffs. Visit ccgfuneralhome.com for online guest book and information.