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1935 - 2015

BORN

1935

DIED

2015

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Smith College University of California| Berkeley Yale University

Carolyn Dundes Obituary

Carolyn (nee Browne) Dundes
Jul. 25, 1935 - Oct. 16, 2015
Resident of Berkeley
Carolyn was born in Miami, Florida on July 25, 1935, the daughter of Dr. Van M. Browne and Felicia Van Lier Browne. She was a member of the Miami High School class of 1953, attended Smith College and received an undergraduate degree in English from Wells College in 1957. Carolyn also entered a Masters of Playwriting program in the School of Drama at Yale University where she met her husband.
Carolyn was predeceased by her husband of 46 years, the late Alan Dundes, Professor of Anthropology and Folklore at the University of California Berkeley. They enjoyed traveling and began their adventures after their wedding on September 8, 1958 when they immediately left for Colmar, France where they lived for two years. Over the years, she and Alan explored many parts of the globe and delighted in collecting folk art. Her longstanding interest in photography helped her to document their trips.
Carolyn had broad interests, a dry sense of humor, and a passion for the arts. She shared her husband's love of books and enjoyed reading the dictionary. Whenever she had the chance, she loved to go to the theater, films, the opera, and lectures.
Throughout her life, she was always devoted to her family, friends, and the Berkeley community. She served on the board of the Berkeley Stage Company, volunteered at the Cal Tang Center for Student Health, and participated in community service organizations such as the Berkeley Section Club and Town & Gown. With her strong interest in gastronomy, she took culinary classes, collected cookbooks from around the world (now at the Radcliffe Schlesinger Library), and entertained in her Berkeley home.
Carolyn is survived by her children Alison Dundes Renteln (Paul), Lauren Dundes Streiff (Michael), and David Dundes (Karen); grandchildren, David Renteln, Michael Renteln, Zachary Streiff, Madeline Streiff, Carolyn Dundes and Katherine Dundes; brothers Roger E. Browne (Suzanne) and Dr. Peter V. Browne (Dede); nieces Laura Lang and Melinda Mitchell. She was preceded in death by her nephew William E. Browne.
We will remember our mother for her wit, love of the arts, and devotion to her family and community. She cared deeply about others and taught us the importance of working hard to make the world a better place.

View the online memorial for Carolyn (nee Browne) Dundes

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Published by Contra Costa Times on Oct. 25, 2015.

Memories and Condolences
for Carolyn Dundes

Sponsored by East Bay Times.

13 Entries

Zandra LeDuff

December 5, 2015

It is with great sadness that
Zandra Faye LeDuff

November 6, 2015

I have remembered with fondness my friendship with Carolyn when we were little girls. Aunt Helen would take us to see the flamingoes, or go slide down the hot slide at the park, or just to ride on the Hialeah-Miami Springs bridge as it swung open to let the boats go through. Life was simple and our pleasures fun because Helen made them fun for two little girls. We have remained friends these many years even though we didn't see each other very often. A phone call used to catch us up on each others lives and those of our children.

Your mother was a beautiful, bright , unique lady who loved her family dearly. Remember her as such.

Our prayers and love go out to you as you are never ready to lose your mother,

Ruth and Jack Hinds

Lewada (Wanda) Fix

November 4, 2015

To the family of Carolyn:
It is with great sadness, we the Miami Senior High School Class of 1953 to hear one of our Classmates passing. While reading about what she achieved in life she surely let a very wonderful and interesting and full life enjoying all the things she truly loved. How many can achieve that? You are one of us never forgotten where we all shall meet once again. May God give peace to her Children whom we never want to leave as parents. We know she is at peace and say continue to RIP.

October 26, 2015

Carolyn Dundes was a very special person, we remember her wit, her honesty, her great cooking, her enthusiastic interest in ethics and the arts, and her incessant support of Alan's work and his students and colleagues. Thank you Carolyn!
Galit Hasan-Rokem and Freddie Rokem

Lauren

October 24, 2015

Dundes Dundes

October 24, 2015

Dundes Dundes

October 24, 2015

Dundes Dundes

October 24, 2015

Earl Petrikin

October 23, 2015

David and Family,

Your mother was a most exceptional person--so very kind and caring--as well as a special friend to us. She will be greatly missed by everyone who knew and loved her.

Earl and Carolyn

Sherry Hovis

October 23, 2015

I worked as 1 of her care managers shortly before she passed. She was a very nice lady and it was my pleasure to be able to care for her. She will be missed.

Jeanne Harrah-Johnson

October 23, 2015

I am sad for the children and grandchildren of Carolyn and Alan. As a former folklore student of Alan's I know that Carolyn was often the one who steered the ship and kept a steady hand right next to Alan's. She was always smart, gracious, and consistent. I will miss her.

JoAnn Conrad

October 23, 2015

I, too just learned of this, and I am deeply saddened. Mrs. Dundes was an exceptional person. She always supported my work and kept up with it. Even after I was finished and continued working at Cal, she kept up on what I was doing and she said that she felt that as long as I was there, teaching folklore, that the program was in good hands. She was an essential, if behind the scenes, part of the Folklore Program. This, now, seems to be the end of an era. My deep sympathy to all the Dundes family.

Regina Bendix

October 22, 2015

With sadness I learned of Carolyn's death today. Meeting her first in the early 1980s when she and her late husband and my beloved mentor Alan Dundes gave a reception for a visiting scholar at their home on La Vereda in Berkeley, and it was a revelation to encounter this strong, yet warm presence by his side. She held him in check with her own kind of humor and love. At a visit many years later, in the 1990s, when he had done something to his back and could barely move, she was there, giving him another kind of support, not without loving teasing. Never slipping into the role of "faculty wife," she held her own, an admirable presence. During two visits after his death, we went out for dinner and - while many other things had always kept her interest and invovlement strong - her focus remained on what to do "with all his papers." My heart goes out to her children and grand children who cared for and carried her through the last years of illness.

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