Led a life of service to others
KENNEBUNK, ME — On Tuesday, May 7, the world lost a woman of great compassion, generosity and selflessness as Carol Tobey Eveleth, age 85, passed away peacefully after a lengthy illness.
Carol was born on April 14,1939 in Melrose. She spent her childhood summers in Kennebunk, ME where she stayed on Great Hill Circle with her brother Alan Tobey and her parents Edna and Virgil. Carol attended Melrose High School where she was the lead majorette and volunteered in the Girl Scouts and at Melrose-Wakefield Hospital. After high school, she studied at Green Mountain College.
It was during a summer in Maine when Carol met her future husband of more than 60 years, Max Eveleth. They would be inseparable while raising five very lucky children who spent the school year in Melrose and the summers in Kennebunk. Carol led a life of service to others. Whether it was supporting her family, giving to community members or running nonprofits, she was a leader who worked on behalf of others.
While living in Melrose, Carol spent countless years as an officer at Kappa Swap Shop, a thrift shop led by a service sorority that was dedicated to raising money for the Melrose Wakefield Hospital and other area nonprofits. The “Swap Shop” gave more than $70,000 a year to local groups and provided inexpensive clothing for local families.
Carol was also very active in the Well Baby program of the Visiting Nurses and she spent at least three days a week doing wellness visits across Middlesex County. She taught Sunday School and remained active in Girl Scouts including one Halloween trip to Boston’s Spectacle Island with her troop when she rose from a casket dressed as a ghost and sent the girls running.
When she saw a neighbor who could not provide for their children, she was always there to provide something to go under the tree or to leave a pair of skates for the youth hockey season. If a neighbor was battling illness, she was there to provide meals and childcare.
The home that Carol created became a place where all were welcome; some for an evening and some for years. The number of Tri-Hi-Y floats created in her living room and garage are too many to count and for years, her green Buick wagon wore the scars of plywood frames covered in chicken wire and tissue paper flowers.
With the addition of 12 grandchildren, Carol became known as Mimi and her focus became attending every game, recital and celebration that involved one of her grandchildren. Carol was not interested in escaping the winters of New England to warmer climates when gymnastics, lacrosse and hockey games could be watched.
Carol was a woman who sacrificed for others. Whether it was supporting her husband in college through making dozens of sandwiches each night to be sold on a “milk” route or simply giving her time to the needs of the community, Carol regularly put the needs of others before her own.
Carol is survived by her daughter Brooke Tuttle and her husband Mark; her daughter Kirk Arnold and her husband David; her daughter Tracy Reinhold and her husband Karl; her daughter Dana Wildes; her son Todd Eveleth and his wife Karen; twelve grandchildren William Fernald Tuttle and his wife Courtney; Caroline Cumming and her husband Marc; Spencer Tuttle; Tory Bois and her husband Andy; Bill Arnold and his fiancée Krissy McNeill; Josh Reinhold; Mike Melanson; Sam Gardner and his wife Sara; Riley Gardner; Max Wildes; Tobey Eveleth; and Bailey Eveleth; five great grandchildren Liam, Hazel, Kennedy, Augusta and Charlotte; her sister-in-law Nikki Dixon her husband Tom; and two nieces Stacey Kane and Corey Center.
A memorial service will be held for both Carol and Max at Bibber Memorial Chapel on June 22 at 11 a.m. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in Carol’s name to the Animal Welfare Society, PO Box 43, West Kennebunk, ME 04094. To share a memory or leave a message of condolence, please visit Carol’s Book of Memories Page at bibberfuneral.com. Arrangements are in the care of Bibber Memorial Chapel, 67 Summer St., Kennebunk, ME 04043.
