Groton - Carol W. Kimball, 94, passed away suddenly at Fairview in Groton, on June 8, 2010, while recovering from surgery.
Carol was born May 18, 1916, in New London, daughter of Harry R. and Barbara (Cornet) Williams of Quaker Hill. She graduated from Quaker Hill School and Chapman Technical High in New London, and then chose a career in teaching, graduating in 1936 from Willimantic State Normal School, now Eastern Connecticut State University. Armed with a child-centered, "learn by doing" view of education instead of the old rote memory approach, she taught for three years in the Scotland, Conn., elementary school, before marrying and moving to Mystic.
Unable to get a job in the post-Depression era, and because her husband was employed, Carol made her first foray into local history, volunteering to assist Carl Cutler at the Mystic Seaport. She returned to teaching in 1948, at Fort Hill School in Groton. Two years later S. B. Butler, then Groton superintendant of schools, offered Carol a job at Mystic Academy, teaching third grade. This she did for several decades, mainly at S.B. Butler School, until she retired.
As Carol has told in The Day, in 1950 the third grade social studies curriculum called for studying Groton history, but there was no textbook. So began in earnest her labor of love, discovering and sharing local history, first by Mystic Seaport Museum programs and ECSU extension courses with noted historian Eva L. Butler, and then by independent research in primary sources. These efforts eventually led to authoring "A Narrative History of Groton Connecticut, for Use in Teaching Elementary School Social Studies", adopted by the board of education in 1964. Then followed an impressive series of other books, articles, and presentations on local history, extensively described elsewhere, and of course, her widely enjoyed weekly columns in The Day, continuing from 1985 well into this year.
Carol was an enthusiastic member or supporter of many local historical societies and civic groups. Achievements and associations that she especially treasured included, founding member and honorary trustee of the Indian and Colonial Research Center, Old Mystic, set up in 1965, to provide access to Eva Butler's historic research and later-added Indian artifacts, first and only Groton Town historian, from 1985 until she resigned last year, memberships in the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Mayflower Society, earned by meticulous genealogical study, and in the Lower Mystic Cemetery Association; and grand marshall of two major local parades.
Carol is survived by brother, Euell Williams; daughter, Barbara Kimball; son, Paul (Elisa Klein) Kimball; granddaughters, Julia and Sarah Kimball; and nephews, David and Roger Williams.
She was predeceased by her husband, Burton Clark Kimball, whom she married on June 30, 1939.
A memorial service is planned for 11 a.m. Saturday, June 19, 2010, at the Union Baptist Church of Mystic, followed immediately by a reception at the church. Private burial will be at Elm Grove Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, donations in her memory may be made to Indian & Colonial Research Center, PO Box 525, Old Mystic CT 06372, or Mystic & Noank Library, 40 Library St., Mystic CT 06355.
To share a message of remembrance or condolence with her family, please click the link below.