Caroline Segar, role model, teacher who sparked excitement for learning

In more than two decades as a kindergarten teacher at Shady Hill School in Cambridge, Caroline "Carol" Segar sparked excitement for learning in the 5- and 6- year-olds under her care and offered support and guidance to young educators beginning their careers through the school's teacher-learning program.

"She was one of those people who is magical with little kids," said Betsy Anderson, a former colleague and one time apprentice to Mrs. Segar. "She taught me to appreciate them as the people that they are, to really appreciate each kid as an individual learner, a person who has something to offer and who needs to be cared for."

Mrs. Segar, 82, died May 14 at Eagle Pond Living and Rehabilitation Center in Cape Cod of complications from Alzheimer's disease.

Born in Dover, N.H., Caroline (Coggeshall) Segar enrolled at Wellesley College in the early 1940s. When the war broke out, she wanted to do something more directly related to the effort, so she transferred to Bouve-Boston School of Physical Therapy at Tufts University .

Upon her 1946 graduation, Mrs. Segar, along with several other new physical therapists, went to the former Cushing General Hospital in Framingham to help rehabilitate wounded soldiers. Among her patients was 21-year-old staff Sergeant Joseph Segar, who had been shot in the neck while serving in the South Pacific and was partially paralyzed. Recently transferred from an Army hospital in West Virginia, he had a long road to recovery ahead, but he immediately fell for the kind and charming physical therapist helping him heal.

"It was something about her openness, generosity of spirit, to say nothing of her beauty," said Joseph, her husband of nearly 60 years. "I was stricken; I was so taken by her."

As Joseph grew stronger, so did their friendship. They married in 1947.

After the births of five sons and after Joseph took a position as director of the Shady Hill School, Mrs. Segar returned to college in the evenings to earn a master's degree in education at Wheelock College.

"We all grew up with this image of a multitalented, powerfully caring woman," said her son Andrew of West Roxbury. Getting her graduate degree "was another horizon to conquer."

In the mid-1960s she joined her husband at Shady Hill School, where she earned the respect of colleagues for her teaching expertise and for the humor and grace with which she guided youngsters, said Suzanne Webber, a longtime co-worker and friend. "She was a leader among the lower-school [teachers] and a great inspiration to younger teachers."

Webber said she remembers an often-shared story about a young teacher who had been offered a job at the school, but was considering a position elsewhere. After spending a morning in Mrs. Segar's busy classroom, the woman was so impressed she immediately decided to accept the offer.

When Mrs. Segar retired with Joseph in 1989, they moved to their summer home in Barnstable, where she continued to pursue long-held interests of painting, gardening, traveling, and birding. An avid athlete and swimmer, Mrs. Segar volunteered at YMCA Cape Cod, giving swimming lessons to special needs children.

In addition to her son Andrew and husband, Mrs. Segar leaves four other sons, Mark of Portland, Maine, Timothy of Marlboro, Vt., John of Watertown, and Michael of Nyack, N.Y.; and 10 grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. tomorrow in St. Mary's Episcopal Church in Barnstable.