Caroline Parker Kuhn

b. 26 January 1925, d. 30 April 2011
  • Caroline Parker Kuhn was born on 26 January 1925 in New York City, New York.
  • She married Myron Barnett Bloy Jr., son of Myron Barnett Bloy and Helen F. Gibson, on 26 January 1954.
  • The following appeared on 30 May 1963 in The Washington Post: [Died] Suddenly, on Tuesday, May 28, 1963, at his home in Bedford, N. Y., Richard Parker Kunh, is survived by his wife, Margaret Normoyle Kuhn, three children, Richard Parker Kuhn Jr., Caroline Kuhn Bloy and Margaret Kuhn Rockefeller, and nine grandchildren. Services Thursday, May 30 at 2:30 p.m. at St. Mathews Church, Bedford, N. Y. Interment private. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to St. Mathews Memorial Fund.
  • Caroline Parker Kuhn became a widow at the 27 January 1985 death of her husband Myron Barnett Bloy Jr.
  • The following appeared on 9 February 1985 in the Boston Globe: A memorial service was held Feb. 2 in Grace Church, Newton, Mass., for Rev. Myron B. Bloy Jr., 58, of Sweet Briar, president of the National Institute for Campus Ministries Inc. in Newton and chaplain at Sweet Briar College. He died unexpectedly Jan. 27 while leading a conference at the College of Preachers in Washington, D.C. Rev. Bloy served since 1979 as both chaplain at Sweet Briar College and president of the National Institute for Campus Ministries Inc., a research and development support organization for ministries of Jews and Christians in higher education. Rev. Bloy, a native of Detroit, was a graduate of Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, and Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Mass. Before entering the priesthood, he taught English at Ohio State University and was assistant director of admissions at Kenyon College. He also served in the Navy from 1944 to 1946. Ordained in 1956, Rev. Bloy spent two years at St. Paul's Cathedral in Detroit. In 1958, he was the first Episcopal priest to be appointed chaplain at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. During his eight years at MIT, he wrote the book "The Crisis of Cultural Change." In 1965, Rev. Bloy was awarded an honorary doctorate of divinity by Ohio State University. He was a former member of the visiting committee at Harvard Divinity School and the visiting committee on religious life and the chaplaincy at Tufts University. He was a contributing author to various publications, including the Christian Century, Christianity in Crisis and Chronicle of Higher Education. He leaves his wife, Caroline (Kuhn); two sons, Michael of Boston and Peter Bloy of Amherst, Mass; a daughter, Sarah Bloy of Boston; and a brother, Frederick Bloy of Grosse Pointe, Mich.
  • Caroline Parker Kuhn died on 30 April 2011 at age 86 in Wayland, Middlesex County, Massachusetts.
  • The following appeared on 4 May 2011 in The Boston Globe: Whether pacing the field hockey sidelines, organizing hymn sings at church, walking her standard poodles in the woods, or debating politics at dinner parties, Caroline Bloy rarely sat still. The long-time Newton resident was "a force to be reckoned with," recalled her daughter, Sarah Bloy. "Opinionated, full of energy, and always trying to bring people together." Mrs. Bloy, 86, died April 30 of cancer, with her children at Parmenter Hospice in Wayland. Born Caroline Parker Kuhn in New York City, Mrs. Bloy grew up in New York City and Bedford, N.Y. in a family that included a long line of West Point graduates. She graduated from Chapin School and later from Bouvé Boston School at Tufts College with a degree in physical education. After World War II, she volunteered to help rebuild cities in Germany, and then returned to Boston to work at several colleges. Mrs. Bloy taught physical education and coached athletics at Simmons College, Wellesley College, and Pine Manor Junior College. She also worked in the admissions office at Sweet Briar College in Virginia, where she coordinated a program for returning adult students. Mrs. Bloy was a lifelong active member of the Episcopal Church, and in 1954 married the Rev. Myron B. Bloy Jr., a national leader in college campus ministries. She was active in several Episcopal communities, including Parishfield in Michigan, Grace Church in Newton, and St. Brendan the Navigator in Stonington, Maine. The couple and their three children lived for many years in Newton, where Mrs. Bloy worked as a real estate broker and also co-founded a food cooperative of more than a hundred families, operating out of her home's basement. A progressive Democrat, Mrs. Bloy was passionate about the human justice movement and animal rights. She was a dedicated New England Patriots and Boston Celtics fan, but paid little attention to other aspects of pop culture. She once played doubles tennis with Clint Eastwood without realizing that her partner was a famous actor. For many friends and family members, the strongest memories of Mrs. Bloy revolve around Little Deer Isle, Maine, where she and the Rev. Bloy spent summers at the house they built in the 1960s. There Mrs. Bloy enjoyed organizing games and songs for visitors, walking with her dogs, tending her vegetable garden, sailing with her family, and feeding her friend Oscar the seagull on the granite ledge in front of the house. Mrs. Bloy retired in 1998 to Topsham, Maine, but she kept in touch with a wide circle of friends, who knew her as "Kuhnie," from as far back as girlhood summers at Singing Eagle Lodge on Squam Lake, N.H. She was predeceased by her husband, her sister Margaret Rockefeller, and her brother Richard Kuhn Jr. She leaves three children Michael Bloy of Southborough, Peter Bloy of Newton, and Sarah Bloy of Brunswick, Maine and six grandchildren: Anna, Frederick, Caroline, Cameron, Owen, and Luther. A memorial service will be held May 7, at 2 p.m. in Grace Church, Newton. Mrs. Bloy asked that donations in her name go to The Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald, Tenn. (www.elephants.com).
  • Last Edited: 6 Mar 2014

Family: Myron Barnett Bloy Jr. b. 28 March 1926, d. 27 January 1985