Carolyn Knight Dik

Carolyn Knight Dik, 94, passed away on December 7, 2022, at Rose Monahan Hospice Home in Worcester.

She leaves a daughter, Melinda K. Dik of Milwaukee, WI; a son, Ross K. (Lisa) Dik of Worcester; two grandsons, Christopher K. Dik of Princeton and Steven E. Dik of Orleans; and five great grandsons. She is further survived by a nephew, E. Donald Hoyt, Jr. of South Yarmouth. She was preceded in death by her sister, Constance K. Hoyt.

Carolyn was born in Melrose in 1928 to Harriet E. (Houston) and Harold Nichols Knight. She moved to Worcester when she was six years old and grew up in “neighborly Newton,” attending Midland Street School. During the war years, she went to Classical High School where she had a role in The Taming of the Shrew and was chosen as class marshal of her senior class. She worked part-time at Filene’s where she was a model for their local newspaper ads.

In 1949, she graduated with honors from Clark University with a degree in geography and was awarded the Prentiss Hoyt prize for poetry. Upon graduation, she went to work for her father who had recently purchased an insurance agency. She helped him set up the business and managed the office for six years. That business continues today as Knight-Dik Insurance Agency and is run by her son, Ross and her grandson, Chris. She was proud of its success through four generations.

Carolyn became interested in local and state government through her involvement with the League of Women Voters. She was president of the Worcester chapter and led a two-year state-wide study of the Massachusetts court system. She was appointed by the state Supreme Judicial Court to the Judicial Conduct Commission and was the first non-lawyer to serve as a board member for the American Judicature Society.

In later years, she earned a degree as a paralegal. She worked for the Legal Assistance Corporation for ten years, coordinating the volunteer services of 400 lawyers in Worcester County to support those who could not afford legal assistance. Carolyn was the recipient of the 1994 Katharine F. Erskine award in the business/law category.

Carolyn loved Worcester and served on various boards during her lifetime including the YWCA, Daybreak, the United Way, Dynamy, and Community Health Link. She was also a member of the Worcester Women’s History Project, Save Green Hill Park Coalition, and the Worcester Garden Club.

She traveled extensively throughout Europe, Africa and Asia during her retirement. Her favorite trip was “around-the-world” from New York to Los Angeles, traveling through remote areas of the USSR, Mongolia and China, including train travel on the Trans-Siberian Railway.  She also cherished the trips she took as part of the Worcester-Pushkin Sister City Project.

She is fondly remembered for her sense of fun and good cheer, and the joy she found in travel, art, music, decorating and most of all, Christmas. She was always fun to give a gift to because she made it seem like whatever she received was more exciting than it was.

Charitable donations in her memory can be made to Abby’s House at abbyshouse.org. Services will be held privately at Rural Cemetery in Worcester. Callahan, Fay & Caswell Life Celebration Home, 61 Myrtle Street is directing funeral arrangements.