Joyce Carleton

Joyce Carleton of West Hartford, CT died on Sunday, January 19, 2020 at John Dempsey Hospital in Farmington, CT. She was born on June 25, 1927, in Littleton, New Hampshire to the late A. Bartlett Carleton and Anna (Colby) Carleton. She is predeceased by her sister, Diane Carleton Tait (Mrs. Bruce M.). Joyce grew up in the majestic mountains that enveloped her youthful years. She graduated from Mount Holyoke College in 1949 and did graduate work at Middlebury College during which she was awarded a Fulbright Grant for a full year of study at the University of Paris (1950-51) culminating in the Master of Arts degree from Middlebury in 1953. Joyce worked in the field of education throughout her life, starting in the 1950’s on the faculty of Vermont Junior College in Montpelier, VT, then seven years at Wilson College in Chambersburg, PA, followed by a 3-year stint with the Sweet Briar College Junior Year in France as Assistant Director in the Paris, France office. While in Paris she was able to begin what was to become an extended period of literary research in French archives encompassing some eleven years of traveling back and forth between Paris and Connecticut and which culminated in earning the Ph.D. degree at the University of Paris in 1974. She was awarded a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities for a summer seminar in French studied at the University of Pittsburgh in 1975. She was a member of The Modern Language Association, the American Association of Teachers of French of which she was a past president of the Connecticut chapter, the Alliance Francaise, le Petit Cercle, and the Friends of George Sand. She was a contributor to professional journals such as The French Review, Contemporary French Civilization and the Theophile Gautier Society (France). The major part of her career was spent on the faculty of Central Connecticut State University in New Britain, CT, from which she retired in 1990 after 26 years in the Department of Modern Languages. She is survived by her two nephews: Carleton Drew Tait of Bountiful, UT, and his wife Darnell along with their children Kimberly Tait Bagwell and Joshua Tait; and Gregory B. Tait of Midlothian, VA, and his wife Suzanne, and their children Laura Tait and Emily Tait. Services will be private. Memorial gifts may be made to the Best Friends Animal Society, 5001 Angel Canyon Road, Kanab, UT 84741. Taylor & Modeen Funeral Home, West Hartford has care of arrangements. For online condolences, please visit www.taylorandmodeen.com.