Obituary: Caro Heller, Brooklyn artist who reunited families, dies at 80
Adventurous and genteel, touched people 'from park benches to Park Avenue’
Caroline Watkins Heller, known as Caro, died Sunday, August 17 at her home in Fulton Ferry Landing, Brooklyn. She was recognized as a remarkable, multifaceted and even magical person who touched hundreds of lives from Brooklyn Heights to far flung locales, including Haiti.
She died from emphysema at the age of 80, surrounded by her children, grandchildren and husband Lowell “Pete” Beveridge.
A petite and elegant woman, Caro was described by family members as an adventurous “people magnet” whose home was filled with her children’s friends, visiting artists, animals and “lost souls” who might stay for months or even years.
“She was a rare woman,” said daughter Leslie Heller. “Mombo touched people from park benches to Park Avenue. We always had other people living with us,” she said, including a Buddhist monk who trained wild animals for Broadway shows, a man who had been homeless, young friends, and “a menagerie – three dogs, four cats, two birds and mice.”