Carlotta Vivian Dodels

Carlotta Ruklick-Dodels (August 18, 1939, to December 27, 2024) died at the age of 85 at Liberty Village in Princeton, IL after a long struggle with leukemia and lung cancer.

Carlotta first came to Princeton as a young girl to live at the Covenant Children’s Home while her mother recovered from tuberculosis.  She was able to return to her parents’ home in the Chicago area while her brother Joe remained in Princeton to continue his basketball career.

Carlotta enrolled at Southern Illinois University as an art major studying drawing, painting, and silver jewelry design. She continued her studies at the University of Chicago and the Art Institute.  She was mentored by Mr. Sam Koukios, a situation in which she worked on animated cartoons and advertising.  Moving to New York, she used her knowledge and experience to create the Art Department at New York Inter-American Life Insurance Company.

In the mid-1980s she moved to Vienna, Austria to attend the University of Vienna, Goethe Institute, where she studied the German language and art.  Upon returning to the United States, Carlotta divided her time between her studios in Palm Beach and Del Rey Beach, Florida. Moving back to Princeton, Carlotta opened the 28 East Tea House on East Peru St, which she operated for several years. Additionally, she was an active member of Friends in Council and the Prairie Arts Center.

An estate sale will be held with the proceeds going to Friends of Strays.  Carlotta’s remains will be cremated and her ashes scattered in the ocean along with the remains of her 7 beloved dogs who preceded her in death.  She asked that no services be held.