FREEPORT — Sonya Phyllis Simkhovitch Potter Carroll, 83, died quietly in her sleep June 30.

Carroll was born May 18, 1930, in New York, N.Y., to Russian-American artist Simka Simkhovitch and his wife, Elsa Fornell. She graduated from Milford, Conn., High School in 1947 and married Geoffrey Allan Potter, the son of artist William J. Potter, in 1952. They lived in Greenwich, Conn., and had three sons, Stephen Hayes, Robert Simka and Bruce William.

They divorced eight years later, and Carroll moved to Fairfield, Conn., with her three sons. She raised her sons by herself while working as a bookkeeper. Several years later, she moved back to Greenwich where she met her future second husband, Dr. Robert Carroll, founder and president of ODV Inc. Carroll moved to the Norway/South Paris area of Maine in 1975, and married in 1984.

Carroll put her family first, herself last. She was very proud of her father’s art and accomplishments and wanted his name to be well-remembered. She loved her cats and donated to Best Friends Animal Society. She was an excellent cook, enjoyed reading The New Yorker, and listening to classical music and Harry Belafonte. She was independent, resourceful, thrifty and strongly in favor of male-female equality.

She was preceded by Geoffrey Potter in 1977 and Robert Carroll in 2002.

She is survived by her three sons, Stephen, Robert and Bruce, and two sisters, Naomi Rottman and Elzira Simkhovitch. 

The family would like to thank the staff at Hawthorne House for their care of her in the last year of her life and her friend, Ross Sawtelle, for his companionship the several years prior to that.

There will not be any service and in lieu of flowers the family asks that donations be sent to Best Friends at www.bestfriends.org.

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