Carolyn Gough, Central Intelligence Agency & U.S. Foreign Service Employee

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FRAMINGHAM – Carolyn Gough passed away Tuesday, January 25, 2022, due to a brief illness with her son Joshua and daughter Molly by her side

 A true “international woman of mystery” she was born in Ashland, a small coal town in Schuylkill County in northeastern Pennsylvania. She was the daughter of James J. Gough and Mary Emma (Schilling) Gough.

In 1953 Carolyn graduated from Immaculate Heart Academy in Fountain Springs, Pennsylvania.

After graduation she went on to join the Central Intelligence Agency and spent the next several years overseas working in American embassies in Bern, Switzerland, and Montevideo, Uruguay.

After coming back stateside, she had a four year assignment in Washington, D.C., as an intelligence analyst.

Then from 1968-1969 she worked as part of a two-person team setting up the new Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars at the Smithsonian Institution.

She left the foreign service behind in 1969 to continue her education at Penn State University and eventually started a family.

In 1971, she had her first born, a daughter, Molly (Lewis) Naples, and four years later her son, Joshua Lewis, both of whom she adored. Her life was then consumed by raising her children, but she still had time to hold numerous administrative jobs at St. Edward’s University, Austin, Texas and then Cambridge College, Cambridge, Massachusetts, where she attended night school and got her master’s degree in education.

In 1993, after raising her children, she applied again to join the U.S. Foreign Service.

After a short stay in D.C for training she was again sent to work in embassies overseas serving American ambassadors in Lima, Peru; Stockholm, Sweden; Moscow, Russia; and finally, Valletta, Malta, where she then retired in 2005 and returned home.

She spent her retired years as “Nana” living next door to her beloved daughter, Molly, and son-in-law, Matthew Naples and their children, in East Lebanon, Maine. She was a huge part of their daily lives. Carolyn was very independent, she spoke many different languages including Spanish, French, and German from her time in other countries and had a wonderful sense of humor.

She was a natural musician, writer, actress, artist and a great storyteller. She was a free spirit who loved to dance and she marched to the beat of her own drum. She fiercely loved her family with all of her heart.

Carolyn was the fourth of six siblings and was predeceased by her sisters Mary Patricia (“Pat”), Grand Prairie, Texas; Dorothe (“Dottie”) McFadden, Ashland, Pennsylvania; Marianne King, Mayo Maryland; and her brother, James W. (“Jimmy”) Gough, Tarpon Springs, Florida. She leaves behind her youngest sister, Margaret (“Nancy”) Gough, Arlington, Virginia. She is also survived by Molly and Matthew Naples of East Lebanon, Maine, and their children Cory Lewis, Mia Lewis, and Joel Naples, and Joel’s two daughters, Carol’s great-granddaughters, Alliyah and Emberly Rose Naples. She is also survived by her son Joshua Lewis and his wife Stacie (Jones) Lewis and their children Trevor and Taygan of Hudson, Massachusetts, and many nieces and nephews.

Suaimhneas Síoraí

Calling hours will be held on Saturday February 5 from 4:00-5:30 p.m. with a small funeral service to follow at Norton Funeral Home 53 Beech Street Framingham.

For online guestbook and directions, please log onto www.nortonfuneralhome.com.