In Remembrance of Caroline, a cherished Safe Haven Board member who will forever be missed.
Caroline Hill Horvitz, a beacon of resilience and brilliance, graced the world from May 16, 1988 until April 24, 2025. Caroline’s remarkable life began with the challenges of severe cerebral palsy and profound deafness.
Caroline’s academic career began at the Beverly School for the Deaf. She later attended Beverly High School and then embraced homeschooling, eventually earning an Associate’s degree from Mount Wachusett Community College. Her insatiable thirst for knowledge led her to Mount Holyoke College, where she pursued a Bachelor’s degree and graduated to a standing ovation, and then to Simmons College, where she acquired two Master’s degrees.
Caroline’s linguistic prowess was unparalleled as she read in English, Latin, Italian, and French, and understood Signing Exact English, British, French, Italian, German, and Arabic sign languages. Her sign language vocabulary was created by her longtime caregiver and companion, Cheryl Lauricella, and encompassed an astonishing 100,000 words from basic to graduate level.
Caroline worked and volunteered at the Mount Holyoke College Art Museum, doing research on a series of previously unidentified acquisitions. She had spent multiple summers cataloging Etruscan artifacts at the archaeological site near Murlo, Italy, leaving an indelible mark as a published scholar and expert in Etruscan fibulae. At the time of her passing, Caroline was a cherished professor at UMass Amherst, captivating students with her courses in Roman Archaeology, Roman Religion, and Pompeii. Her kindness, humor, profound knowledge, and engaging teaching style made her a beloved figure in the academic community.
She was an inveterate traveler, having visited almost 80 countries and both the Arctic and Antarctic regions. An adventurer at heart, there was nothing off-limits in her mind.
Caroline served on the Board of Directors for Safe Haven Therapeutic and Medical Outreach for many years. Her keen insight, unwavering passion for helping those in need—particularly children facing physical and medical challenges—and her own lived experiences made her a truly unique and powerful advocate.
At the time of her passing, Caroline remained an active member of Safe Haven’s Design Concept Committee, where she contributed her vision and compassion to the planning and design of a permanent facility in Siem Reap, Cambodia, built with accessibility and the needs of people with disabilities at its core.
Her legacy of empathy, advocacy, and dedication will continue to shape Safe Haven’s mission and the lives of those it serves.
“For me the physical handicaps are not limitations, but obstacles to be worked around to achieve my goals.”
