Marietta C. Karpe

KARPE, Marietta C. Marietta C. Karpe, Z"L, 97, of Coventry, died Saturday, (September 5, 2009) in the comfort of her home surrounded by her loving family. She was the beloved wife for 49 years of the late Richard Karpe, MD. Born in Pilsen, Czechoslovakia, she studied law at Charles University in Prague and was active there in the "Blue-White" Zionist youth movement. She and her husband immigrated to the Boston, MA area in 1939 shortly before the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia. Her parents and her entire extended family perished in the Holocaust. Marietta received an MSW degree from Smith College for Women in 1942, and then she and her husband settled in the Hartford area. She worked as a psychiatric social worker over many years with focus on healthy development of children. At the age of 16 she authored an autobiographical novel in German called The Soul of Andre Garaine, and she later wrote an article "The Origins of Peter Pan", which was published in The Psychiatric Review in 1956. She had a passion for opera, theatre, tennis, swimming, travel and politics – she never missed a vote. The life that Marietta and Richard created together leaves cherished family: three daughters, Dvora (Doris) Caspi and her husband Abba of Manchester, Barbara Johnson and her husband Clifford of Coventry, Jane Dixon and her husband John of Woodbridge; seven grandchildren, Sara Caspi and her husband Michael Yanuck, MD, Steven Dixon and his wife Phalla, Yael Caspi Sagi and her husband Tomer, Na'ama Caspi Welland and her husband Peter, Bonnie Dixon, Michal Caspi Tal and her husband Tomer, and Hilary Johnson. She also leaves four great-grandchildren, Marina, Maya, Dahlia and Conan (and two on the way). She was predeceased by her beloved grandson Robert M. Johnson in 1997. Funeral service will be Tuesday, September 8, at 12 p.m. at Beth Sholom B'nai Israel, 400 Middle Turnpike East, Manchester, with Rabbi Richard Plavin officiating. Interment will be at the New Coventry Cemetery, on Rt. 31 in South Coventry, past Depot Rd. on the left. Following interment friends are invited to gather at Marietta's home on Forge Rd. until 8 p.m. An evening shiva service will be held there at 7:30. The family wishes to express their appreciation to Marietta's caregivers: Joan, Donna, Trudy, Dee Dee, Brittany and Nicole, with a special heartfelt thank-you to Lisa. In lieu of flowers, donations in her memory may be made to the Robert Johnson Memorial Fund, c/o Coventry Scholarship Foundation, 78 Ripley Hill Rd, in Coventry. May Marietta's memory be a source of strength and a blessing to her family. Funeral arrangements provided by Hebrew Funeral Association, Inc., 906 Farmington Ave., West Hartford.