Carole A. (Senn) Kalberer, 73, formerly of Lincoln, Rhode Island and Highland Beach, Florida, died peacefully on October 1, 2025 surrounded by her family. Carole was born on December 24, 1951 in Woonsocket, Rhode Island to Gertude (Russell) Senn and Joseph C. Senn. She was the wife of the late Kurt T. Kalberer for 51 years, mother of three adoring children and beloved by her three grandchildren.
Carole was an accomplished scholar and athlete. As a youth, she competed successfully at the national level in women’s golf and graduated top of her class at Elmhurst Academy, a private Catholic boarding school in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, where she earned several distinguished awards for her studies in theology. When not studying or on the golf course, she proudly worked part-time for her family’s car dealership in Woonsocket.
She met her husband, Kurt, when she was just two years old, playing at the beach together at Bonnet Shores as children. They began dating in high school and discovered sailing as a romantic hobby. Carole declined an invitation to study at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom to stay close to her high-school sweetheart and future husband. She instead attended Newton College in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts.
Carole and Kurt soon thereafter married and had three children. They would own several sailing yachts, each affectionately named after their two daughters, and sail as a family together throughout New England each summer for many years. She was a former member of Newport Yacht Club, East Greenwich Yacht Club and Kirkbrae Country Club.
A life-long learner, she was a devoted reader of philosophy, theology and psychology and returned to her formal studies in her 40s to earn a master’s degree in psychology from Rhode Island College. In her later years, Carole dedicated her spare time to helping children find their path in life, working part-time as a school psychologist, career counselor, and college instructor. She also found enjoyment managing a boutique women’s clothing store in Newport with her dear cousin Sally.
Above all, Carole saw her life mission as a mother to be a sacred calling and is survived by her two daughters, Tara Ashe and Tiffany McClanaghan, her son, Kurt T. Kalberer II, three grandchildren, Iris and Harrison McClanaghan and Michayla Ashe.
Calling hours will be held on Sunday, October 5, 2025 from 5:00-7:00pm at St. Mary’s Church, corner of Spring St & Memorial Blvd, Newport, Rhode Island. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Monday, October 6, 2025 at 10:00 AM also at St. Mary’s Church. Burial will be private.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to St. Mary’s Church, PO Box 547, Newport, RI 02840, https://www.stmarynewportri.org/
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