July 11, 1955 - June 19, 2022
As reported by Barbara Michelson
Classmates, with great sadness I report Carol Pomerance Cataldo’s death. Carol was diagnosed with glioblastoma in December of 2020. She had surgery and treatments and seemed amazingly vigorous throughout. The cancer returned. I will always remember when Carol came to Friends in tenth grade. She exuded confidence and just sparkled. Although short in stature, she was all legs and she strode briskly into the future. She faced her illness the same way—at least publicly—lived to swim in the icy quarry water in Rockport, MA where she went almost year round, took long walks, knew and connected with everyone in town, had loving friendships with her three grown kids, and adored her four grandsons who were born in quick succession to two of the kids. She had a great life, and I wish she had much more of it.
Published at dignitymemorial.com
Carol Pomerance Cataldo passed away peacefully at her home in Rockport on June 19, 2022, after a valiant year-and-a-half journey with glioblastoma. She was 66 years old.
Carol was raised on the Upper East Side of Manhattan by her parents, Alan Pomerance and Iris Feldman, where she blazed her own trail early and often in life. A decidedly adventurous teenager who relished the outdoors, she attended Colorado College at a time when few New York Jews ventured there. She studied Anthropology, communed with nature, and made lifelong friends among classmates and professors. She then pursued a career in social work, and graduated with an MSW from The University of Michigan. In her early career, she specialized in working with formerly incarcerated youth in the Bronx, as well as members of the emerging 80s-era Russian immigrant community in Brooklyn.
She met Jim Cataldo when he was a Ph.D. student at Columbia University, and they later moved to Arlington, MA. Carol continued her career working as a social worker and soon became a mom — first to Simon, then Eva and Anna — and was truly the best mom ever, according to her children. Upon Anna’s arrival, the family moved to West Concord, and Carol started a new job finding adoption and foster care placements for older children at Concord Family Services. She deeply loved her colleagues, coined the “A Team.”
Carol taught her children how to be inclusive, brave, creative, and Jewish. A social worker through and through, she guided them through life to be open to every experience, and gave them the tools to navigate a complex world. Carol was the glue to her nuclear family, her extended family, and every community she moved through. She adored her neighbors on North Branch Road in Concord, dog walks with her friends in “The Pit,” her community of mosaic artists, and her colleagues at Forever Tile in West Concord, where she worked for years after retiring from CFS. Her house was an ever-evolving testament to her talent as a mosaic artist, where she used the walls as a canvas to learn and experiment with tile, broken ceramics, and color.
Carol had a second act in her beloved town of Rockport, where she moved full-time in 2009. She immediately began working her magic and befriended the entire town and beyond, fulfilling her lifelong purpose to connect everyone with everyone in her distinctly bold and intuitive way. With her friends, she ran in the woods, swam in the quarry, and found joy in her vibrant and tight-knit community at the “16:30 Club.”
When Carol’s children had children, she eased into her spectacular role as “Grammy.” Her four grandsons loved her endlessly, and never tired of the adventures she created for them. During the pandemic, she occupied a vital presence in their tiny worlds.
In her 66 years, Carol never sat still (or if she had to, she complained about it). She lived a vivid, full life, and was unwaveringly herself at every turn. She leaves behind her children Simon, Eva (Berlin), and Anna; sister Ruth Pomerance; grandsons Lev, Hank, Alan, and Charlie; daughter-in-law Chessie and son-in-law Gdaly Berlin; former husband and lifelong friend Jim; nephews Aaron and Emilo Prieto; stepmother Molly Pomerance; father-in-law John Cataldo; and many other beloved family members and friends. She is predeceased by her father Alan Pomerance, mother Iris Feldman, stepfather Benjamin Feldman, and Molly’s husband Seymour Schwartz. She provided and cared for all of them in ways they’ll never be able to repay.