Carolyn Louise Dow

Carolyn Louise Dow died on October 19, 2025 at Atria Woodbriar Park in Falmouth. She was 81. Born in Orange NJ to Harold and Phyllis (Bickford) Dow, she was the second of four children. During her childhood the family moved frequently from Madison NJ to Wayzata MN to Ipswich MA and back to New Jersey. After graduating from Abbot Academy in Andover, she received her bachelor's degree with honors in mathematics from Connecticut College in 1966.

Carolyn spent her entire career with IBM as a systems engineer working summers while in college. She became an expert in IBM's DB2 database management. Her career took her to Vienna Austria and California before she settled in Arlington Heights, IL where she lived for 40 years.

After retiring, she volunteered as a docent at the Frank Lloyd Wright house in Oak Park. She also stayed at or visited many Wright houses. She delivered Meals on Wheels and was active in fund raising events for breast cancer research. Carolyn was a cat person. Max was her most beloved companion of the many black cats she loved. In Austria she attended the Viennese balls. In the last several months of her life, when she heard waltz music, she found the strength to dance again.

She is survived by her siblings, Ronald Dow of Sun Lakes AZ, Barbara White of Falmouth, Marilyn Dow of Sudbury. She leaves her nieces Elizabeth Saito of Falmouth and Nora Encinas of Marana AZ, and nephew Gregory White of Boxford. She is also survived by her longtime friend Scott Schildgen of Schaumburg IL.

Services will be private.