Carol Peterman Cox

Carol Peterman Cox, 77, of Wildwood Drive, Carlisle, MA, passed away on October 27, 2022, of complications from interstitial lung disease (ILD).
Born in Orlando, FL, in 1945, she was the daughter of Margaret Smeddy Peterman and George H. Peterman. In 1946 the family relocated back to a suburb north of their ancestral home of Philadelphia.
At 18 months old Carol contracted polio. The result: for the rest of her life she required a full-leg brace and crutches to walk. Taught by her parents to find her own limits, she explored her environment like any young child: played, fell down and learned how to get up. In one of her falls she broke her steel-and-leather brace. Fitting her for a new brace, the doctor asked: how could you possibly have broken your brace? Carol responded: It broke when I fell out of the tree I was climbing.
Having been mainstreamed at a young age, Carol seamlessly integrated the effects of her polio into who she is. She made invisible a clearly visible handicap.
Carol attended Immaculata College, Immaculata, PA, majored in mathematics and was elected to Who's Who Among Students in American Universities. With her crutches and full-leg brace, Carol walked – alongside her able-bodied classmates – all over the extensive, rural campus, up and down steps outside, and stairs inside, buildings at a time before ADA regulations. At graduation, after Carol walked across the stage, received her diploma and tossed her tassel, the entire senior class spontaneously rose and gave her a standing ovation.
Carol began her professional career in 1967 as a computer programmer, first at Smith, Kline & French in center-city Philadelphia, then with Keystone Associates, Ft. Washington, PA. In 1972 she married Charles Cox, who was destined to be the love of her life. The couple moved to Arlington, MA, where Carol continued her career joining Keane Associates, Boston, MA while Charles pursued a doctorate at MIT.
In her free time, Carol developed what became a life-long interest in cooking, initially inspired by Julia Child's cookbooks and TV show "The French Chef"; she also acquired an extensive collection of French copper cookware. Her cooking interests grew beyond French, to include a personal library of 500 cookbooks.
Her interest in cooking led to a desire to grow, and can, her own vegetables and hence to have a victory garden that had come back in vogue in the 1970s. Arlington had no land for gardens but Carlisle had garden plots at Foss Farm that were open to non-residents. Upon Charles' graduation in 1979 the couple purchased their first home in Carlisle on Berry Corner Road.
Carol's professional career grew into program management, becoming manager of Keane Associates' Boston office, its largest. In 1980 Carol started CPC Associates, from which she managed large, strategic computer system projects such as the Euro-conversion for State Street Bank and the Y2K project for Fidelity.
In 1986 the couple built a second home in Weston, VT. The Weston Playhouse Theater Company (WPTC), a professional summer theater company, had a concept for a second, "black box" theater. Carol was asked to join the WPTC board and chair the newly formed facilities committee, which was charged with transforming an abstract vision into a realizable design. In recognition of her outstanding efforts to manage WPTC's largest project, Carol was elected secretary of the WPTC board.
Other board positions for which she took pride in, and was passionate about, included chair, Lab Rescue of New England and treasurer of the Farrar-Mansur Museum, which owns and manages the Weston Town Green.
Carol's love of dogs – all rescues, mainly labs – rivaled her passion for her husband – she would never say which was first. Initially she had one dog, then two, after they moved to their new home on Wildwood Drive in 1995. Over the years she rescued more than a dozen dogs.
Carol had a passion for life, which she shared with family and close friends. After an intense day of work, she loved to come home, have a drink – usually scotch on the rocks – with her husband and her dogs, then prepare a gourmet dinner. Carol was lovely, loving and much-loved. She was a hard worker, but not a workaholic: she took time to smell the roses. She was a natural leader, but never sought the spotlight; in fact, she seemed surprised at the impacts she had – on the others she inspired and the organizations with which she worked.
In addition to her husband of 50 years, Carol is survived by her two dogs Britt and Savannah, her brothers, George Peterman, North Wales, PA, and John Peterman, Horsham, PA, and cousin Joe Storm, Springfield, PA. She is also survived by her nieces Christy Seymour, Lawrenceville, NJ, Cathy Peterman, Seattle, WA, and Michelle Janson, Jackson, NJ, and nephews David Peterman, Charleston, SC, and Eric Peterman, Bear, DL, as well as grandnieces and grandnephews.
Family and friends are invited to gather for visiting hours on Monday, November 7th from 5 to 7 pm in Dee Funeral Home, 27 Bedford Street, Concord Center. Funeral and burial services in Weston, VT will be private.
For those who wish, in lieu of flowers, we invite you to make a donation to Charles and Carol Peterman Cox Fund at Immaculata University.
Arrangements are under the care of Dee Funeral Home & Cremation Service of Concord.