Carol Ann Pavacic Dubin, left banking career to help immigrants, dies at 68

As the eldest of five siblings, Carol Ann Pavacic Dubin was born into a leadership role, though her true calling was to help immigrants who wanted a better life.

"She was tender and tough, and was a take charge kind of person," said Dubin's brother, John Pavacic, of Smithtown. "She was compassionate and always someone you could count on to help you with any particular issue."

The Patchogue native died on April 11 in Leland, North Carolina, of ovarian cancer. She was 68.

Dubin was born on Sept. 19, 1956, in Patchogue. She graduated from Seton Hall High School and earned a bachelor's in biopsychology from Vassar College in 1974. In 1980, she received a master's in public administration from New York University. Dubin had a 40-year career in banking, working for Citigroup in various executive and leadership roles. After discovering her passion for education and language, she pursued a master's in teaching English to speakers of other languages, which she earned in 2021 from The New School in Manhattan.

Dubin met her first husband, Ken Dubin, who died in 2008, when he emigrated from Russia. When she helped him reconnect with long lost family, the experience would shape the rest of her life.

"She took a lot of people under her wing over the years. Folks from different countries, from Russia and China and to Uruguay, she helped them get their start here in the United States," said Pavacic, who added that Dubin used her passion for teaching to tutor English as a Second Language through the Cape Fear Literacy Council in North Carolina.

Dubin met her second husband, Mike Weir, in 2008 on a trip to Ireland. The couple married on Oct. 10, 2010, and moved to Leland in 2019.

"She was a tenacious, caring person who was enchanting to talk with," Weir said. "Carol was confident and knew who she was. She was as smart as a whip and had a great sense of humor."

According to Weir, Dubin never took credit for her charitable actions but "saw a problem and corrected it." He witnessed firsthand his wife's charitable actions when she helped assist a student, Ricardo Javier Rodriguez Freitas, after he emigrated from Uruguay to New York. When Freitas' full scholarship fell through at the Manhattan School of Music, Dubin was there to sponsor him for the next four years.

"I met Carol and Mike in 2019. It was my first year in America and they introduced me to all of their family and friends. I didn't have anywhere to stay for Christmas, so they welcomed me into their home and let me stay with them," said Freitas, 37, an opera singer from Ronkonkoma. "They gave me all of these gifts and I didn't have anything for them, but I sang them a song as a thank you — 'O sole mio.' "

 According to her family, Dubin wanted to make a change in the world one person at a time, and had an overriding love for new people coming to the country.

"I think she would want to be remembered as a person of endless generosity who was able to see the potential of everyone she met and felt compelled to help those people to reach that potential," Freitas said. "I've experienced her generosity on every level." 

A classically trained singer, pianist and organist, Dubin lent her musical talents to St. Francis de Sales, Our Lady of Mount Carmel and St, Sylvester Roman Catholic churches in Patchogue.

"Carol's faith was extremely important to her," Weir said. "She played the piano and was always playing church songs. She felt music was a part of liturgy and raised the parishioners so she took it very seriously."

 Dubin enjoyed travel, gardening and art, and was a devoted animal lover and rescuer. A true Long Islander, she lived near the eastern shore of Canaan Lake in North Patchogue and enjoyed saltwater fishing and boating. According to Pavacic, Dubin "loved the fact that Long Island was sophisticated and cultured but rural with farms and waterways." 

"She was a strong shoulder to lean on," Pavacic said.

In addition to her husband and brother, Dubin is survived by her mother, Dorothy Pavacic; stepsons, Mike Dubin and Brian Weir; and granddaughter, Zoe. She also is survived by her siblings, Robert Pavacic (Doretta), Dianne Romano (Peter) and Christine Porfert (Daniel); and many nieces and nephews.

 A Mass was celebrated on Wednesday at 9 a.m. at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Wilmington, North Carolina. A memorial celebration will take place on Sunday from 3 to 8 p.m. at Ruland Funeral Home in Patchogue, followed by interment at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Coram at 11 a.m. on Monday.