Carla Latham Webb of Rhinebeck died on December 5. She was 61.
Born in Southampton, she was the daughter of Elizabeth Louise (Jones) Webb, who predeceased her, and Alan Fordham Webb. She graduated from Southampton High School and earned an associate’s degree from Becker College in Massachusetts and a bachelor’s degree in art education from the State University of New York at New Paltz. While at New Paltz, she met Paul G. Higgins, a native of Dutchess County, whom she later married on a snowy Valentine’s Day at the top of the Empire State Building in New York City. Together they traveled extensively and shared many great adventures.
Ms. Webb possessed a lifelong curiosity about the natural world, had a love of culture and the arts, and was an avid hiker, swimmer, kayaker and sailor, survivors said. Mr. Higgins shared many of these same interests, and together they accumulated a treasure trove of life experiences, from sailing Peconic Bay, the coast of Maine, the West Indies and the British Virgin Islands, to hiking on Grand Manan Island off the coast of Newfoundland, kayaking and hiking in the Adirondacks, including to the summit of St. Regis Mountain, as well as many summer vacations on Martha’s Vineyard, and several European trips over the years.
From an early age, Ms. Webb enjoyed drawing, painting and sculpture, and these interests were to develop and evolve continuously throughout her life. She appreciated the visual arts, and viewed them with enthusiasm everywhere she went, from tiny local galleries to museums of all types, to sculpture gardens and private collections, from urban graffiti and other street art to the treasures of the Louvre. She liked modern dance, ballet, puppetry and performance art, as well as many types of music. She also enjoyed bird watching, beachcombing, vegetable gardening, reading and creating handmade cards for friends and family.
She was a member of Bullhead Yacht Club in Southampton, as well as the Minnewaska Distance Swimmers Association in the mid-Hudson Valley. She pursued a career in sales and sales management, from which she retired in 2007. Following her retirement, she worked as a collections and registration volunteer at the Southampton Historical Museum, where she also served on the museum’s Board of Trustees. She was also a collections volunteer at Historic Huguenot Street in New Paltz. She was a supporter of organizations involved in the preservation of natural habitats, historic sites, open space and public access to New York’s waterways, including ocean, bays, lakes, rivers, and streams.
Ms. Webb is survived by her husband, Paul G. Higgins and his family; her father, Alan Fordham Webb; and sisters Constance Webb McClain and Deirdre J. Melvin, all of Virginia; and by another sister, Chris C. Webb of Seattle; an uncle, Sherrill C. Webb of East Hampton; two aunts, Barbara Milholland of North Carolina and Margaret Liehr of Southampton; and many cousins, nieces and nephews.
Ms. Webb was cremated. A memorial celebration will be held at a later date. Funeral arrangements are under the direction of the Dapson-Chestney Funeral Home, 51 West Market Street, Rhinebeck, New York.
Memorial donations may be made to Scenic Hudson, Attn: Veronica Renzo, One Civic Center Plaza, Poughkeepsie, NY 12601; Grace Smith House, 1 Brookside Avenue, Poughkeepsie, NY 12601; or Planned Parenthood of the Hudson Valley, 190 Fairview Avenue, Hudson, NY 12534.
on Dec 15, 2014