Page created by: Her Family

Caryl Lewin Donovan, a longtime resident of Garden City, New York passed away peacefully on March 11, 2019 while surrounded by family. She and her husband Thomas F. Donovan moved to Garden City in 1957, where they raised their seven children, all of whom survive her. Her husband Tom, to whom she was married for sixty-four years, died in 2013.

Caryl was raised in St. Albans, Queens, attended Syracuse University and graduated from the Katharine Gibbs School. She was a loving wife, mother and grandmother who was devoted to her family. Caryl knew wholeheartedly that caring for and loving her family was her most important calling in life; it provided both her greatest passion and greatest joy. She accepted her children's spouses with great love and treated each of them as though they were her own. Once they arrived, Caryl developed close relationships with each of her thirteen grandchildren, who lovingly knew her as their Nana. She was also a devoted friend and loving aunt to many nephews and nieces. Her belief in the importance of family was shared with and passed on to her children and grandchildren.

Caryl was a cheerful, gentle and generous soul, known for her great sense of humor, infectious laugh and joie de vivre. Throughout her life she demonstrated an interest in others and believed in the power of kindness, which she showed not only to those she knew, but to everyone she encountered, no matter how briefly. Caryl imparted valuable life lessons to her family members and close friends, of which she had many. Caryl maintained her mental acuity throughout her life, even as her ninety-one years began to catch up to her physically. She was an active member of St. Joseph's Parish in Garden City, where she was a member of the St. Joseph's Rosary Society and long served as a Eucharistic Minister.

A funeral Mass will be held at St. Joseph's Church in Garden City on Saturday March 16, 2019. The family asks that in lieu of flowers, a donation be made in Caryl Donovan's name to the Michael J. Fox Foundation, which is working to discover a cure for Parkinson's disease.