Carol L. (Fenton) Farnsworth

Carol Lillian Farnsworth, age 90, resident of York, Maine, passed away peacefully and surrounded by close family on Tuesday, July 21, 2026.

Carol was born on April 23, 1936, the daughter of John (Jack) and Lillian Fenton. She grew up in Melrose, Massachusetts and Clinton, Maine, one of four children alongside her sister Barbara and brothers Al and Don. She attended Maine Central Institute (MCI), where she met the love of her life, Richard George Farnsworth, who was also a student there. Carol later attended flight attendant school, but instead followed her heart and married Richard in 1957. In 1967, Carol and Richard moved with their young family from Dover, New Hampshire to York, Maine, where Carol made her home for the rest of her life.

Carol raised three children, Mark, Tracy, and Todd, and was deeply devoted to her family. Over the years she worked at Porteous, Mitchell & Braun Co. in Newington, New Hampshire, at Shelton’s of York in York Beach, and at Foster’s Flower Shop in York, work that suited her lifelong passion for flowers and gardening. She was an active member of First Parish Church of York, where she contributed her talents to flower arranging for many years.

Carol loved the outdoors, walking, skiing, kayaking on the York River, and especially long walks along Harbor Beach and the Marginal Way, often with one of the many rescue dogs who always seemed to find their way into her home and her heart. She was also an avid artist, and one of her favorite mediums was clay; at one time, she had two pottery wheels and a kiln set up in the basement of her home. She was also a passionate quilter. Fun, gregarious, and wonderfully free-spirited, Carol had a way of making everyone around her feel at ease. After Richard retired, the two of them took to the road in an RV, traveling across the United States and Canada together, and spent many happy winters at their place at The Great Outdoors, an RV resort in Titusville, Florida. Following Richard’s passing, Carol was fortunate to find a devoted companion and life partner in George Cooper, who was by her side for almost twenty years, and whose family she welcomed warmly into her own.

Carol is survived by her three children: Mark Farnsworth and his wife Miwako Miyakuni; Tracy Ritzo and her husband Joseph Ritzo; and Todd Farnsworth and his wife Jessica Farnsworth. She was a devoted grandmother to Jamie Ritzo (husband Clement Enault), Nicholas Ritzo (wife Natasha Ritzo), Griffin Ritzo, Rachel Farnsworth, Nathaniel (Nate) Farnsworth, and Alison (Allie) Farnsworth. She also leaves George Cooper’s sons, Tim Cooper (wife Carrie) and Jeffrey Cooper, and their families, whom she loved as her own. She was predeceased by her husband, Richard George Farnsworth, and by her siblings, Barbara Fenton Kenworthy, Al Fenton, and Don Fenton.
A graveside service will be held in the fall; details will follow.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association or the NHSPCA. 

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