Carol W. Rundberg

1938 - 2021

Carol W. Rundberg

Amherst, MA — Carol Williams Rundberg passed away on August 29, 2021 after several months of illness. Born in Hartford, CT in 1938 she lived most of her life in Hadley and Amherst.

Carol was raised in Hartford by loving and hard-working parents who were both nurses. She was the oldest of three children and is survived by her sister, Heather Williams Hornik and her brother-in law, John Hornik of Amherst, as well as nieces and nephews and their children in Plattekill NY, Chicago IL, Hartford CT and Bozeman MT.

Carol's life work was in education, a field in which she earned a doctoral degree from the UMass School of Education. In the early years of her career she taught first and second graders. She loved teaching reading and watching children's worlds expand as they became independent readers. Later in her career she became School Counselor at Marks Meadow School, working not only with children but often with their parents as well. Along the way she spent two years as School Counselor at the Anglo-American School in Moscow. In her retirement, Carol brought two strands of her experience together, honoring her own parents and the parents she had known during her career by assisting single mothers in the Practical Nursing program of Greenfield Community College.

Carol was a serious pianist throughout her life and served as accompanist for various groups, starting with her high school choir. In later years she served as accompanist for choral groups at Bates College and for choral ensembles in Western Massachusetts, including Valley Light Opera. For several years she was a pianist for Amherst Ballet School. During the summer she was an instrumental accompanist for Summer Keys, an adult music program in Lubec, Maine.

Carol loved attending opera and classical piano concerts. She had a fine eye for painting and prints, and she could transform a room with just the right accents of red. She was an avid reader of fiction and biography and participated in several reading groups.

Carol's warmth, generosity, sharp insight, depth and kindness will be missed by those who knew and loved her.

Carol will rest alongside her parents and brother at Cedar Hill Cemetery in Hartford. Memorial gifts may be sent to the Practical Nursing Student Fund at Greenfield Community College, One College Drive, Greenfield, MA 01301 or to the Jones Library, 43 Amity St., Amherst MA 01002.

Memorial guestbook at www.douglassfuneral.com