Prudential Auditor Who Romanced Actress Stefanie Powers Dies At 72

The host of the 2000 benefit fixed her up with Carroll, who was attending as chairman of the building’s board.

When they met at the apartment door, “I think I saw his smile before I saw his face,” she wrote. “It was a very attractive smile, and it belonged to a very attractive face. He was the all-American boy, healthy, fit, a Notre Dame Irishman. Clear-eyed, and unattached, he looked like a movie star in his suit and tie.”

They made a date to go sailing the following day.

Twice married and divorced, Powers said she initially resisted becoming involved again. But, she added, “There is an abiding decency in Tom that makes him a rare and special person.”

Kenya Charity

Carroll became a director of the foundation that Powers founded to honor William Holden, the Academy Award-winning actor who was her romantic partner until his death in 1981. The William Holden Wildlife Foundation, based in Beverly Hills, California, raises money to support a conservation and education center in Kenya, where Holden created a safari club in 1959.

A 2009 article in Prudential’s employee newsletter described how Carroll created a pen-pal program connecting students at Alexander Street School in Newark and Guara Primary School in Nanyuki, Kenya.

“I wanted to help inner-city students here learn more about the world and the environment directly from kids their age,” Carroll was quoted as saying.

Thomas Joseph Carroll was born on Aug. 30, 1941. His parents were Patrick Carroll and the former Mary Jennings, according to a 2012 death notice for his sister, Patricia Carroll Hayden.

He graduated from the University of Notre Dame and was an officer in the U.S. Navy.

According to the funeral home statement, he was a member of the New York Yacht Club and the Larchmont Yacht Club. His sailboat, the Siren Song, was the top IRC boat on Long Island Sound, Sailing World reported in 2011. He ran the New York City Marathon nine times, once finishing in less than four hours, according to the notice.

In addition to Powers, survivors include a son, Tom Carroll Jr.; a daughter, Cathy Locabucci; and three grandchildren.