Carol Roman, 93; devoted to animals

"South Jersey's cats and dogs lost their best friend" when Carol Roman, 93, died at her Maple Shade home Monday, May 4, said Barbara Leap, a longtime friend.

"Over the past 80 years, starting as a child, Carol tirelessly rescued hundreds of neglected, abandoned, and abused animals," Leap wrote in a tribute.

Ms. Roman was a volunteer and a board member for the Animal Welfare Association in Voorhees in the 1960s and 1970s, for which she produced a monthly newsletter.

The nonprofit offers animal adoptions and neuterings.

Ms. Roman also was a 55-year member of Friends of Animals, an international advocacy organization in Darien, Conn., Leap said.

She developed "her love of animals because her parents loved animals so much," Leap said. When Ms. Roman was a child, "they always had cats and dogs in the house, and her parents encouraged her to rescue animals."

Born in Newport, R.I., Ms. Roman graduated from Moorestown High School in 1939 and earned a bachelor's in illustration at Moore College of Art and Design in 1944, Leap said.

After working in the advertising sections of three Center City department stores, Lit Bros., Snellenburg's, and Wanamakers, Ms. Roman spent most of her career, from 1951 to 1984, as an artist at Gimbels, helping to produce newspaper advertisements promoting girls' and women's fashions.

She helped organize fund-raisers for both the Animal Welfare Association and the Friends of Animals.

"Carol had many friends," Leap said, "because she knew how to be a friend to both people and animals."

Ms. Roman was "brilliant, generous to a fault, and had a free spirit, a contagious laugh, and a terrific sense of humor," Leap said.

Marcia Walsh, one of five surviving cousins, recalled that Ms. Roman was the hit of one Christmas party at Walsh's home in Upper Darby.

"She came one year dressed as a big dog," Walsh said, "because she wanted to give the kids a thrill."

Walsh said her children "went crazy. . . . She was an awfully good sport."

A private undated memorial service is planned for June.

Donations may be sent to Friends of Animals, Suite 205, 777 Post Road, Darien, Conn. 06820.

Condolences may be offered to the family at the Eichel Funeral Home, 8323 Maple Ave., Pennsauken, N.J. 08109.