Carol S. Duncan
Former Executive Director of Girls Inc. of Lowell, Lifelong Community Service Activist, Educator, Wife, Mother, & Friend
Carol Spindler Duncan was born in Boston, MA, spent her early childhood in Wakefield, MA and her formative high school years in Amherst, MA where her mother was a revered high school English teacher, and her father was a professor of agricultural sciences at UMASS Amherst. She went on to attend Brown University (Pembroke College) where she received a BA in International Relations in 1963. After Brown, Carol worked as an assistant buyer at Jordan Marsh while pursuing her Master’s in English and Education at Boston University which she received in 1969.
Carol met her husband of 56 years, George L. Duncan of Enterprise Bank, in Boston in 1965, and they were married in 1967, and moved to Lowell, MA where she worked as a junior high school English teacher in Dracut between 1967-1971. She was a devoted and loving mother, mentor and educator to and for her children, Alison and Andrew, who consider her to be the best teacher they ever had. While raising her children, she also was getting involved in her community. When Girls Inc. sought her for their Executive Director in 1991, a position she ultimately held for 22 years, she had already served as President of a PTO, been a founder and secretary of the D’Youville Manor Ladies Guild, been president of the People’s Club of Lowell, been 1st VP of the Florence Crittenton League of Lowell, held office in the College Club of Greater Lowell, served on several school improvement councils, chaired the Merrimack Valley National Alumni Schools program for Brown University, and served on the boards of the Lowell General Hospital Auxiliary, the Merrimack Lyric Opera Company and the local library. She certainly was a full-time volunteer and mother, but she also had a local tutoring business in SAT preparation, writing, grammar, and literature which she held between 1984-1991.
Girls Inc. has roots that go back to the 1800’s, but the organization really became official in 1945 when 17 communities (including Lowell) founded Girls Clubs of America. That same year, the Lowell Girls Club purchased two adjoining historic buildings in downtown Lowell which they occupy to this day. In 1991, the national organization decided to change their name to Girls Inc., primarily to differentiate that organization from the Boys and Girls Club. That same year the previous director resigned when she was elected to the state senate and Carol decided to apply. Her children were grown, and she was ready for an even greater commitment to Lowell. She loved the job and had a wonderful board of directors and a dedicated staff who cared deeply about the girls. They worked very hard to plan innovative and worthwhile programs including in the arts, sciences, engineering, and technology, that would help compensate for what many were not getting at home or even in school. Programming is also very much focused on increasing levels of literacy in terms of improved writing, reading, and economic skills, and to expose the girls to a myriad of cultural experiences they might not otherwise have opportunities for. Carol personally found so much variety and fulfillment in this position and flourished as a professional during this chapter of her life. She is remembered as someone who consistently listened carefully to the girls and offered encouragement and direction to pursue education, careers, hobbies, and independence. As with most non-profits she also spent a good deal of her time fundraising and writing grants to renovate and keep the aging properties in shape. On the Girls, Inc. 60th anniversary they were able to pay off their last mortgage and were debt free. She then began a capital campaign, raising over $400,000 to enable the creation of a new Teen Center by reconstructing an upper floor and installing an elevator for universal/handicapped access which opened shortly after her retirement in 2013.
Of course, her involvement with Girls Inc. was only a part of her community life. She also served on the National Board of Directors of Girls Inc. (2009-2013), the Board of Governors of the American Society of Clinical Pathology (2006-2009), and the Lowell General Hospital Patient Care Assessment Committee. She chaired the Pollard Library Foundation and was a member of their Board of Trustees (1980-2003). She served on the Advisory Board of Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) at UMass Lowell (2000-2002), the Lowell Telecommunication Corporation Board of Directors (2007-2013), and on the Whistler House Museum of Art Board of Directors (2014-2020), took part in the mentor programs at Lowell High School and Middlesex Community College, chaired the Brown Reunion Development in 1993 and 1998, was Class of ’63 Secretary between 1993-1998, and Marshall of Brown University Graduation Ceremonies for 3 years. She was on the Board of the Greater Lowell Rape Crisis Service (1996-2002), founded and participated in the Leadership Group of the Women Working Wonders Fund beginning in 2005, served on the Angkor Dance Troupe, and was involved with the Jericho Road Project.
Also, with Ironstone Farm, an organization which provides horse therapy for disabled children, veterans, and cancer survivors amongst others, Carol was a long-time friend, mentor, and supporter where she was a valued member of the Board of Trustees from 2015 to 2021, serving as Chair of the Governance Committee throughout that changing time for the organization. Carol led the effort to execute needed changes in the by-laws and influenced the board's goal to clarify board roles and, thus, bringing diversity and quality to its membership. Together, with the Challenge Unlimited's Executive Director, Carol launched a unique partnership between Ironstone and Girls Inc., bringing teens from Lowell's inner city to week-long retreat programs using the animals and environment of Ironstone Farm.
Carol has been honored by her community many times, including the Lowell Sun Salute to Women (2012), the YWCA of Greater Lawrence Tribute to Women (2011), Notre Dame Academy Medallion Award for Service and Philanthropy (2009), the Community Service Award from the American Textile History Museum (2008), the President’s Award from Community Teamwork, Inc. (1995), and was an honoree at the 1st Annual ATHENA Award program in 2002. She was honored by Girls, Inc. in their Celebration of Today’s Woman in 2014 as a woman who is not only outstanding in her profession, but even more importantly, someone who has contributed in many ways to the local community and is seen as a role model for girls. She also received the prestigious 2018 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Massachusetts Nonprofit Network, celebrating exceptional leadership, achievement, and impact in the non-profit sector.
Carol was valued by family, friends, and colleagues as a quiet, composed, and strong individual and mentor. She was an honest and trusted friend, mother, and wife. She was a bright-eyed and curious person, and one of great integrity, depth, and firm resolve who expressed herself as a clear, logical and progressive thinker. She was an astute listener and someone who valued quality and intelligent conversation. She also had a dry sense of humor with a spirit for fun and adventure. She shared a strong bond, especially with her two children and her husband George, and her two yellow labs Max and Hal. George and Carol shared a marriage that was defined by a powerful sense of partnership, mutual respect, and collaboration for shared family responsibilities and community service. They shared a long journey as life partners that took them around the world.
Carol was a consummate traveler, having visited over 60 countries and principalities and all 50 US states. Her travels took her to Antarctica on the first tourist boat crossing of the millennial in 2000, to the pyramids of Egypt during the first Gulf War in 1991, to a storm-chasing expedition with her Wisconsin relatives in 2009, inside the Iron Curtain of Communist Romania and Russia in 1977, Churchill in northern Canada to see polar bears in 2014, and the Verona, Italy open-air opera during the night of the Apollo’s first moon landing in July of 1969. She encouraged her family to travel and explore the world and often, generously, included her adult children on wondrous trips with her and George, including those to Southeast Asia, South America, India, Iceland and Greenland, Greece, the Baltics, Australia and New Zealand, Corsica and Mallorca, and Provence. She received much joy in her life from picking exciting new destinations and planning those trips with friends and family. Before her recent diagnosis, she had planned to travel to the Canary Islands and Morrocco with Alison in April and had a trip along the Rhine River in Germany planned with George and friends in August.
Carol had a sentimental side for nostalgia, her youth of the 1950’s and Elvis, family trips to visit relatives in Wisconsin, and folk music from the 1960’s with Joan Baez as an all-time favorite. She also greatly appreciated hand-crafted work and art, including pottery, tiles, vases, clothing, furnishings, paintings, and jewelry which she especially enjoyed finding and bringing home from her trips around the world. She was a collector at heart, a hobby which began in her childhood, and which continued throughout her lifetime. She enjoyed decorating and interior design, creating rooms that gave her great peace and pleasure, and which were curated with her treasures from abroad. She always worked hard to make the home beautiful for the holidays too.
Theater, opera (especially Verdi’s Aida and La Traviata), and musicals (a great lover of Hamilton lyrics!) were among Carol’s primary enjoyments. To this end, she was also very involved with the Merrimack Repertory Theater in Lowell for more than 35 years, both as an avid audience member, but also serving on its Board of Directors (1988-2010), President of (1999-2001), and Overseer (2013). Her love of opera took her on special trips with friends to see live performances in Italy, Germany, and France, and she was a member of the Metropolitan Opera Society.
We would be remiss not to also mention her deep love of reading and games including duplicate bridge, puzzles, and crosswords which contributed to her sharp mind (she was a Mensa member!). Around her bed and favorite living room chair are stacks of fiction, travel books, newspapers, and magazines from which she was always cutting out articles to share with family about things they enjoy or might be interested in. She was always looking to continue to inspire us intellectually and culturally.
Following a short battle with ovarian cancer, Carol passed away on June 23, 2023. She is pre-deceased by her father, Herbert G. Spindler and her mother, Alice C. Spindler of Amherst, MA. She is survived by her husband, George L. Duncan of Lowell, MA, her daughter, Alison C. Duncan of New York City, and her son, Andrew W. Duncan, of Lowell, MA. We feel fortunate that, until her recent diagnosis, Carol enjoyed a long, healthy, and prosperous life which allowed her to pursue and fulfill many of her dreams and ambitions.
Carol is a truly cherished person, mother, wife, friend, colleague, and mentor who was “a rock” to many who knew her. We will carry her memory forward, miss her forever, and her family will be thinking of her with our last breaths. We, including the girls, young women, and many citizens of Lowell for whom she advocated, have been fortunate to know her. She represents the best of what we collectively hope to accomplish in our lives, and she will live on in our memory with much love and grace.
Family and friends are invited to attend a Memorial Service to celebrate Carol’s life on Monday, July 10, 2023, at 11:00 A.M. at the O. M. Whipple Columbarium & Garden of Remembrance at the Lowell Cemetery, 77 Knapp Avenue in Lowell. Gathering for the memorial will begin at 10:30 A.M. E-condolences/directions at www.odonnellfuneralhome.com. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made in her memory to Girls Inc. of Greater Lowell, 220 Worthen St., Lowell, MA 01852 in the name of the Duncan Family Scholarship. Arrangements by the O’DONNELL FUNERAL HOME – LOWELL – MA – (978) 458-8768.
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