Anne Rafferty Carpenter, 86, of South Bank Court, Matthews, North Carolina, passed away Aug. 22, 2022, under hospice care during a short stay at the local hospital in Matthews.
She lived a long, storied and vibrant life, and is survived by her two sons, Kevin and wife Vanessa of Matthews and David and wife Yvette of Los Angeles, California. She leaves seven grandchildren, Kevin and Vanessa’s children, Amber Koeppen and her husband Zachary, Dawn Carpenter, Daniel Carpenter, Jonathan Carpenter and René Carpenter; and David and Yvette’s children, Ryan Carpenter and Clayton Carpenter. She is also survived by her brother, Michael Rafferty and his wife Peggy of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, and many nieces, nephews and cousins, all who loved her dearly.
Anne was born in 1936 in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, to parents Harry Willard Rafferty and Mary Marshall Rafferty. Anne’s parents owned a home in the historic seaside resort community of Cape May where Harry had trained and served in the Coast Guard during World War II, and eventually purchased and ran the Cape May Marina. During the school year, Anne attended Garrison Forest boarding school in Baltimore, Maryland, and then Wheaton College (a women’s college in Norton, Massachusetts) where she studied philosophy and babysat her roommate’s python on the side! She would return to Cape May for holidays and glorious summers with her parents, her siblings, Michael and Susan, her aunts and uncles, cousins, and especially her close cousin, Lisa Portmess. She spent much of her time sport fishing on her father’s motor yacht, playing tennis nearly every day at the Cape May Tennis Club, and enjoying wonderfully fancy restaurants at night.
While in college she met William Schreiber Carpenter and eventually procured him a position for a summer aboard one of the fishing vessels sailing out of her father’s marina. A summer romance ensued and in November of 1957, Anne and William (“Bill”) were married in a gala affair at the Laurel Locks farm. A year later they found a house on the northern Jersey Shore, on the banks of the beautiful Navesink River in Fair Haven. This would become the home Anne would settle in for 50 years to raise her family of two sons and daughter Sharon.
Hardship soon hit, however, as Anne and Bill divorced after eight years of marriage. Shortly thereafter, 7-year-old Sharon was tragically killed in an automobile accident. Anne settled in to raise her two boys on her own, becoming an editor/writer for Bell Laboratories in Holmdel and a contract editor for Doubleday publishing company and others.
She became an active member of the Unitarian Church in Holmdel and continued with great friendships at the Rumson Country Club, the Seabright Lawn Tennis & Cricket Club and the Seabright Beach Club. She came to enjoy music of all kinds, dancing of all kinds, and dinner parties with philosophical conversations of all kinds. She and her boys spent summers in Cape May with her parents where Anne played her beloved doubles tennis and eventually became an avid birder, taking advantage of the extraordinary bird watching opportunities at Cape May Point. This developed into a life-long hobby, taking her around the globe on birding trips to Alaska, Texas, Mexico, Florida, Dominican Republic, South Africa and more with her dear friend and fellow birder Arline Raab. Anne would also travel with her sons periodically to West Palm Beach, Florida.
In 2010, as friends and family began to move away from New Jersey, Anne moved to Matthews, to be near her son Kevin and his family. Her lifelong friends, Bob and Shirley Ivey, had moved from New Jersey to Charlotte, North Carolina 25 years before, so her move very happily brought her close to them again as well. She moved into the Polo Club community at Weddington, where she quickly made new friends, starting the community book club and becoming very involved in the community walking group, the movie group, the Monday morning coffee group and eventually the “driveway group” (a nearly daily social get together initiated as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic). She became editor/publisher of the community newsletter, and also served as editor of the HAWK newsletter, a birdwatching and North Carolina Wildlife Federation organization she joined in Matthews.
Active and independent right up to the very end of her life, she loved driving into Charlotte to attend performances of the Charlotte Symphony. But she enjoyed most visiting with her friends Bob and Shirley, or relaxing at the end of the day with her evening vodka gimlet and peanuts, or spending time with her family and grandchildren in North Carolina and Los Angeles.
Anne’s remains will be interred Nov. 5 at Forest Lawn East Cemetery in Matthews, with assistance from Heritage Funeral and Cremation Services.
The article originally appeared in the October 13 – 19, 2022 print edition of The Two River Times.
