Caroline Morse

Caroline Morse Obituary 1934-2025

Caroline Morse of La Jolla, CA a curious, kind and free spirit to the end, sadly passed away at age 91 on Nov. 25, 2025.Caroline was born on October 4,1934 to Elizabeth Salmon Howe and James Blake Howe, the younger of two children.

She grew up in Seattle, Washington and married Kingsley Morse. They had three children and lived first in Tarrytown, NY and then in Poughkeepsie, NY for many years. She was head of the Poughkeepsie Community Foundation for 10 years. Her marriage ended in divorce after 20 years.

Caroline majored in religion at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, where she received her undergraduate degree. She went on to earn her Masters of Social Work, and worked for four years as a social worker at Children’s Village near New York city. Over the decades she designed a series of workshops on various Mystics such as Francis of Assisi and Hildegard of Bingen which she facilitated at her churches.

She loved to travel. She went to India three times. She rode on a camel in front of the pyramids. She traveled to Morocco, Egypt, Oaxaca, Mexico and Amsterdam, and more, always curious about other cultures. She was also a prolific painter, wonderful with color, and had many gallery showings over the years. She met weekly with two other friends to paint, to chat and to critique each other’s work. And of course she loved theater, taking her granddaughter to the Lion King and other productions. She supported the local San Diego theater company.

She will be remembered for her kind, gentle and generous heart, incredible artistic talent, beautiful oil paintings she created, her love of global travel, keeping in touch with relatives and friends, and her love of reading. She was an excellent listener and shared her loving presence through non-judgmental listening, guidance, and conversation. She devoured many books over the years, participating in upwards of 2-3 books clubs at a time up until her last year of life. She was also an avid daily player of UpWords and for many years she played a daily game with her long-time boyfriend, Howard Jacoby. She lived for several years in San Diego before moving to the Vi retirement community in La Jolla.

Caroline is survived by her oldest son Kingsley Gates Morse, Jr. who lives in Bellingham, Washington, her youngest son, Charles Westlake Morse who currently lives in Mexico City and her two grandchildren Taylor Olaisen Morse and Ruth Ann Lichtenberger, along with her cousin Katharine Esty, Eric Neimy, great grandsons Cyrus Neimy and River Neimy, and her beloved two cats Pepper and Spice. She is preceded in death by her daughter Louise Morse and her brother Blake Howe.

She loved her grandchildren, and inspired them with art projects and fun art activities over the years. She took her grandson to Lego Land Her generous heart and spirit allowed her to “adopt” her long-time boyfriends two daughters and engage them in art and craft projects over the years.

We believe that her family and friends have all become better people for having known her.

A celebration of life memorial will be held on Sunday, Dec. 14, 2026 at 11 am at the Vi in La Jolla, where she lived. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to UNICEF, https://www.unicefusa.org/how-help the United Nations Children Fund, one of Caroline’s favorite non-profits.

The family would like to thank the Vi for helping us host the memorial service, and her family and friends for attending.