September 7, 2006 – December 14, 2012

Jeffrey and Sandra Previdi, Caroline’s parents said, “Caroline Phoebe Previdi was a blessing from God and brought joy to everyone she touched. We know that she is looking down on us from Heaven.” Caroline, who was born in Danbury, had a beautiful engaging smile that would certainly touch anyone’s heart. [1] Jeff, who graduated from high school in Danbury, and Sandy were married October 27, 2001. [2] [3] Jeff’s father, Eugene Previdi, was in the printing business in Danbury. [4] [5]

Caroline was compassionate and cognizant of the needs of others. Her teachers said Caroline was “the friend who wanted to make sure everyone was OK.” She encouraged and helped others at every opportunity. “She would offer a hug or hold a hand. Her joy came from within and she wanted to share it.” [6]

Mourners fill the parking lot at St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church in Newtown, Conn. Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2012 as they wait to enter the church for the funeral of Caroline Previdi, a student victim of the Newtown shootings. [7]

They had to delay the noon funeral mass for a few minutes due to the ongoing 10 a.m. memorial service for Daniel Barden. Hundreds of Caroline’s mourners lined up “along the side of the church, in the parking lot and on a nearby hillside.” Some people remained for Caroline’s service. The police from other communities in Connecticut and even from Westchester County, New York provided security and traffic control for the two funerals. [8]

Monsignor Robert Weiss, referring to Caroline, said, she “is probably the happiest addition to Heaven in a long time.” He was speaking at her funeral to hundreds of people, an overflow crowd, sitting and standing, many of them dressed in pink, Caroline’s favorite color. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman and many religious leaders and elected officials from many of the neighboring communities attended the service. Weiss said, “We have a new saint; She will intercede for us; turn to her, we have an angel.” Mourners repeatedly used the word angel when referring to Caroline. Weiss said, speaking to Jeff and Sandy and their son, Walker who sat in a pew at the front with other family and close friends, “Our prayers are with you, our love is with you, our hearts are with you.” [10]

Towards the end of the service, Sandy Previdi, with her husband beside her, called Caroline “our precious angel who brought joy to so many people.” Caroline was “Walker’s little shadow, sometimes to his dismay.” This brought a few laughs, among the many tears. She recalled a drawing and the note that Caroline left in her father’s briefcase that he discovered on his business trip. The note read, “I love you, Daddy!” Walker Previdi told about how “passionate” Caroline was about the New York Yankees. He said, “We will always remember our little angel. She is now in heaven with our savior…and all of her little friends.” [11]

Weiss told the mourners about the “beautiful little girl” who was a “well-balanced, always-smiling child” who loved school, art and liked to dance and sing. At age five, Caroline had emptied her piggy bank and brought it to Weiss at church to donate to St. Rose’s fund to buy toys for needy children. He “praised Caroline’s parents for the family they forged and the love they raised it with.” Weiss told Walker, “I saw you there with your arm around your sister in church. That doesn’t usually happen.” [12]

Pallbearers carry Caroline’s casket after her funeral at the St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church in Newtown, Wednesday, December 19, 2012.

Mourners exit St. Rose of Lima Church in Newtown, Connecticut after funeral mass for Caroline (Michael McAndrews/Hartford Courant/MCT)

Mourners leave St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church in Newtown on Wednesday. [9]

Funeral services for Caroline were held at St. Rose of Lima Church [13]

Mourners leave St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church in Newtown, Conn. Wednesday, December 19, 2012 following funeral services for Caroline [14]

Pam, the daughter of Joan Fehrs was in a ballet and jazz class with Caroline. Fehrs said, as she left Saint Rose of Lima Church after the service, “It was very sad in there, it was painful.” Caroline’s brother, Walker, a third grader and a Boy Scout, eulogized her. Numerous mourners wore green and white ribbons as a “tribute to the victims.” Others wore “uniforms from the Scatacook District Connecticut Yankee Council, which includes Newtown.” Brian Sniffin works at the country club to which the family belonged. He said that Caroline used to swim there. The service lasted ninety minutes during which time there were almost fifty police motorcycles, parked side by side, in front and to the left of the church. The police were from communities such as Trumbull, Milford, Hamden, Westport, Darien, Fairfield and Ossining, N.Y. [15]

Of the twenty children who were killed at the Sandy Hook Elementary School, eight were members of families who belonged to the St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church. James R. Mattioli,
Caroline Previdi, Jessica Rekos, Charlotte Bacon, Grace Audrey McDonnell, Catherine Hubbard, Josephine Gay and Daniel Barden.

Monsignor Robert Weiss was appointed the pastor of St. Rose of Lima in 1999. He was one of the first clergy members to rush to the scene of the Sandy Hook shootings. He has been counseling grieving parishioners ever since.

The hearse that carried the casket of Caroline Previdi, 6, was escorted by police motorcycles down Church Hill Road in Newtown, Connecticut to the St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church on Wednesday, December 19, 2012. Photo by Peter Hvizdak / New Haven Register [16]

Caroline is survived by her parents, her brother Walker, her maternal grandparents: Roger and Patsy Johnson of Asheville, NC. Her paternal grandparents are Eugene and Helen Joy Previdi, Jr of Newtown, Connecticut. She also has aunts and uncles, Helen Previdi in Fairfield, Connecticut, Eugene and Lindsay Previdi, III in Newtown, Chet and Stephanie Graham in Chattanooga, Tennessee and cousins CJ, Pearson, Ches and Cole. [17] [18]

Rest in Peace Caroline Previdi Face Book

Fraternity Starts Scholarship to honor Caroline Previdi

[1] The Newtown Shooting Victims: Who They Were, https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/The-Newtown-Shooting-Victims-Who-They-Were-183658461.html; retrieved 12/13/2017

[2] Sandra Johnson To Jeffrey Previdi< Newtown Bee, 8/17/2001, https://newtownbee.com/sandra-johnson-to-jeffrey-previdi; retrieved 1/14/2018

[3] Mr. and Mrs. Jeffrey Previdi, Newtown Bee, 5/20/2002, https://newtownbee.com/mr-and-mrs-jeffrey-previdi; retrieved 1/14/2018

[4] Robert Miller, Danbury Printers Leave Legacy, 5/28/2012, http://www.newstimes.com/local/article/Danbury-printers-leave-legacy-3589106.php; retrieved 1/14/2018

[5] News-Times, Lindsay Robertson, Eugene Previdi III, 2/17/2006, https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Lindsay-Robertson-Eugene-Previdi-III-89136.php; retrieved 1/14/2018

[6] Patricia Gay, Weston police holding toy drive this Saturday, The Weston Forum, 12/10/2015, https://www.thewestonforum.com/57070/weston-police-holding-toy-drive-this-saturday; retrieved 12/31/2017

[7] Linda Conner Lambeck, Funeral for Caroline Phoebe Previdi, 6, CT Post, 12/19/2012, http://www.ctpost.com/local/article/Funeral-for-Caroline-Phoebe-Previdi-6-4133265.php; retrieved 1/14/2018

[8] Mark Zaretsky and Rebecca Lefever, Mourners wear pink to honor Caroline Previdi at her funeral, New Haven Register, 12/19/2012, http://www.nhregister.com/news/article/Mourners-wear-pink-to-honor-Caroline-Previdi-at-11510214.php#photo-13436800; retrieved 1/14/2018

[9] Linda Conner Lambeck, Funeral for Caroline Phoebe Previdi, 6, CT Post, 12/19/2012, http://www.ctpost.com/local/article/Funeral-for-Caroline-Phoebe-Previdi-6-4133265.php; retrieved 1/14/2018

[10] Mark Zaretsky and Rebecca Lefever, Mourners wear pink to honor Caroline Previdi at her funeral, New Haven Register, 12/19/2012, http://www.nhregister.com/news/article/Mourners-wear-pink-to-honor-Caroline-Previdi-at-11510214.php#photo-13436800; retrieved 1/14/2018

[11] Mark Zaretsky and Rebecca Lefever, Mourners wear pink to honor Caroline Previdi at her funeral, New Haven Register, 12/19/2012, http://www.nhregister.com/news/article/Mourners-wear-pink-to-honor-Caroline-Previdi-at-11510214.php#photo-13436800; retrieved 1/14/2018

[12] Mark Zaretsky and Rebecca Lefever, Mourners wear pink to honor Caroline Previdi at her funeral, New Haven Register, 12/19/2012, http://www.nhregister.com/news/article/Mourners-wear-pink-to-honor-Caroline-Previdi-at-11510214.php#photo-13436800; retrieved 1/14/2018

[13] Robert Miller, Newtown Monsignor finds strength from his parishioners, News Times, 12/22/2012, http://www.newstimes.com/local/article/Newtown-Monsignor-finds-strength-from-his-4141352.php#photo-3932934; retrieved 1/14/2018

[14] Linda Conner Lambeck, Funeral for Caroline Phoebe Previdi, 6, CT Post, 12/19/2012, http://www.ctpost.com/local/article/Funeral-for-Caroline-Phoebe-Previdi-6-4133265.php; retrieved 1/14/2018

[15] Linda Conner Lambeck, Funeral for Caroline Phoebe Previdi, 6, CT Post, 12/19/2012, http://www.ctpost.com/local/article/Funeral-for-Caroline-Phoebe-Previdi-6-4133265.php; retrieved 1/14/2018

[16] Mark Zaretsky and Rebecca Lefever, Mourners wear pink to honor Caroline Previdi at her funeral, New Haven Register, 12/19/2012, http://www.nhregister.com/news/article/Mourners-wear-pink-to-honor-Caroline-Previdi-at-11510214.php#photo-13436800; retrieved 1/14/2018

[17] Caroline Previdi, News Times, Green Funeral Home, Danbury, http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/newstimes/obituary.aspx?pid=161771763; retrieved 1/14/2018

[18] NC couple mourns granddaughter killed in Newtown shootings, WRAL, 1/2/2013, http://www.wral.com/nc-couple-mourns-granddaughter-killed-in-conn-shootings/11934768; retrieved 1/14/2018