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Carol Benton Muller, an original founder of the now defunct Hampton Day School, died July 13 at Westhampton Care Center. She was 87.
Born in San Diego to Robert and Fredrica Benton, Ms. Muller enjoyed an idyllic childhood on a 3,000-acre ranch near San Diego. School was taught by her aunt in a tiny one-room schoolhouse, which she attended with her sister, Jan, and brothers Tom and Phil. She attended Whittier High School and Pomona College, majoring in psychology and education, and went on to Claremont Graduate School for her teacher’s credential.
After graduating from Pomona, Ms. Muller earned both her private and commercial pilot licenses for single engine planes. She also became a maintenance mechanic and formed the “Eight Ball,” a group of eight young women who bought and flew Cessna Aircraft. Survivors said this week that she loved flying and from 1944 to 1947 she held a series of positions, first with the Civil Air Patrol, flying search and rescue missions over Arizona and New Mexico, looking for lost planes and helping to find escaped prisoners of war.
She joined Cessna Aircraft as a demonstration pilot and enthusiastic spokeswoman. Her vision was to make flying accessible to a wider public and, especially, to help girls to learn to fly. Ms. Muller also worked out of Whiteman Airpark in San Fernando and, in 1947, at the age of 26, she became an aviation curriculum expert—the only woman at the time—for the California State Board of Education in Los Angeles.
That year, Vogue Magazine featured her in an article on female aviators. She was asked to become a model, but turned down the offer because of her preference for flying and teaching. She also contributed to the California state curriculum in the fields of the social sciences, natural science, geography and history.
While still at college, Ms. Muller and a friend agreed to give two passing airmen a tour of the campus. One of these men was John Muller Jr., a graduate of Bard College and son of the late John Muller, architect, and Olga Muller, sculptress, of Ocean Road, Bridgehampton.
At the time, Mr. Muller was in the Army Air Corps, waiting to be sent to the Pacific, where he spent the next five years, flying 99 missions in Black Widows. When World War II was over, Carol and John were married. While on honeymoon in the Sea of Cortez, they went out on a fishing trip. The boat’s engine failed and they were adrift for three days without food, until eventually being rescued.
The couple settled in Oyster Bay, where their first daughter, Robin, was born. They later moved to Huntington, where another daughter, Christina, and their son, Joel, were born. At the time, Ms. Muller was teaching in a nursery school and Mr. Muller was recruiting college professors to write books for Oxford University Press.
After seven years in Huntington, the Mullers sold their house and moved their family aboard their 38-foot Block Island Schooner, the Tappan Zee. They sailed down the Intracoastal Waterway to Florida, living for two years moored in Boca Raton, where Ms. Muller became part of a scientific research team examining the potential medicinal benefits of poisonous marine life. They then spent four years in the Caribbean, based for part of the time on Grand Bahama, where Ms. Muller taught school, and then on a remote island called Deep Water Cay, where the couple ran a private fishing club.
In 1964, they, with children in tow, returned to Bridgehampton for two years before setting off for a final year of sailing with their children, this time in the Mediterranean. While they were away, the Hampton Day School, which Ms. Muller had helped to organize, started in their house.
After an adventurous year in Europe, they returned to Bridgehampton, where Ms. Muller was a substitute teacher, worked at the Bridgehampton Library, and was an active member of St. Ann’s Episcopal Church. Eventually, the Mullers sold their home and spent a further nine years in the Caribbean, chartering the S’Oublier yacht as captain and first mate in the Virgin Islands before settling in Yulee, near Jacksonville, Florida.
In Florida, they were both active in the local yacht club and Ms. Muller joined a community orchestra. She was an accomplished violinist and played for all but the last few years of her life.
Her husband predeceased her in 1992, after 44 years of marriage, and Ms. Muller remained in Florida until 2004. When her health began to fail she returned to Long Island to be near her daughter Robin. Family said she will be remembered for her generosity, hospitality, graciousness and for her outward and inner beauty.
She is survived by her three children, six grandchildren, a brother and sister-in-law, many cousins, nieces and nephews and many friends around the world.
A memorial service will be held at St. Ann’s Episcopal Church in Bridgehampton on Saturday, October 3, at 11 a.m. In lieu of flowers, donations to the Shinnecock Revival Center, 22 Hetty’s Path, Farmingville, NY 11738, where Carol attended for the last three years of her life, or to St. Ann’s Episcopal Church would be appreciated by the family.
on Sep 17, 2009