Carolyn Dawes, lawyer and former LIer dies
Carolyn Bannon Dawes, a lawyer from Newport Coast, Calif., who worked at a number of prestigious international law firms, died July 10 of metastatic breast cancer at age 36. Credit: Handout
Carolyn Dawes had grown up in St. James and she hadn't looked forward to moving to the West Coast because of her husband's job. Two weeks after she'd relocated, she'd fallen in love with California and already had a circle of friends, her mother said.
Making friends came easily for a person with a magnetic personality like Dawes, her mother said.
Dawes, a lawyer from Newport Coast, Calif., who worked at a number of prestigious international law firms, died July 10 of metastatic breast cancer at age 36.
Friends described her as kindhearted and loyal. "She made everybody feel happy and brought out the positive in every situation," said her mother, Sara Bannon of Port Jefferson Station.
She had a "desire to do the best possible job she could do and to reach the truth in any case," Bannon said.
Dawes was born Jan. 1, 1975, in Manhattan. Her family lived in St. James, where she attended Sts. Philip and James School and St. Anthony's High School.
She graduated magna cum laude from Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in 1997 with a degree in international politics.
Dawes earned a juris doctor cum laude in 2001 from Georgetown University Law Center. She passed the bar exam in both New York and California, and went on to work at such esteemed law firms as White & Case in Washington, D.C., Shearman & Sterling in Manhattan, and, most recently, Latham & Watkins in Costa Mesa, Calif.
She married Kristopher Dawes in November 2006, and they moved to Newport Coast shortly after. Though she missed her family and friends on the East Coast, she grew to love Southern California, especially the nearby beach at Crystal Cove.
Dawes was an accomplished marathon runner. She completed her first, the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, D.C., in 1998. She went on to compete in more than 10 marathons, including two in New York City in 2003 and 2006. Even after being diagnosed with cancer, she ran several half-marathons.
Dawes is survived by her husband; a 3-year-old son, Logan Dawes, of Newport Coast; parents Michael and Sara Bannon of Port Jefferson Station; and a brother, Patrick Bannon of Staten Island.
Dawes' ashes will be scattered at Crystal Cove in Newport Beach, Calif. A memorial Mass will be offered Aug. 20 at 11 a.m. at Sts. Philip and James Church, St. James.
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