Obituary of Louise Carotenuto Kousoulides

Louise Carotenuto Kousoulides At 12:25am on March 31st, 2022, the world lost one of the kindest, most loving human beings that anyone has ever met. Louise Carotenuto Kousoulides was almost 61 years old and had a full life filled with many close family members and long-time friends. She lived happily in Freehold, NJ her entire life and attended St. Rose of Lima and St. John Vianney Schools growing up. She was the daughter of Louis & Lillian Carotenuto, a retired Captain for the Freehold Borough Police Department and a Registered Nurse at CentraState Medical Center. Louise grew up as the oldest of five siblings: Mary, Elizabeth, Michael, and Louie. They all lived close to the town center on Fulton Street for many years. Being raised by a nurse inspired Louise to go into the profession herself, since she was such a natural caregiver. She began working at Centra State at 17 years old as a unit secretary while attending Fairleigh Dickinson for her college degree. She moved up the ladder, becoming a Nurse’s Aide, a Licensed Practical Nurse, and finally a Registered Nurse all before graduating with her Bachelor of Science. She worked at CentraState for a total of 28 years with the last 10 years focused at The Manor Health and Rehabilitation Center in Infection Control. She moved on to private care nursing for the remainder of her life, gaining many close friends along the way. Before going after her dreams in the medical field, she met her best friend and future husband Tim Kousoulides when she was 14 years old. She was hired as a waitress at Stewart’s Root Beer Stand in Freehold, working to make enough money to live with family in Italy for a month. Tim worked in the restaurant alongside his parents and Stewart’s owners, John and Helen Kousoulides. Louise and Tim fell fast in love and lived out many amazing adventures together alongside her siblings, who she remained close to her entire life, and her two brothers-in-law, George and Chris Kousoulides. They married in a mixed Catholic and Greek Orthodox wedding ceremony on May 5th, 1984. They went on to purchase and run Stewart’s together and have two wonderful children and many, many, many pets throughout the years. In 2017 Tim was diagnosed with a rare stage 4 cancer that was caught early due to Louise’s keen eye and sense for when something was wrong. She nursed him from home while he received chemo treatments and two years later, he was cancer free. She also nursed him through a 3-week coma in late 2019 that he once again survived from, thanks to his wife’s attentiveness and care. After Tim had recovered in 2020, Louise was unfortunately diagnosed with stage 4 cancer herself. She would spend the next two years fighting though different chemo treatments, but never once putting the stress of her condition onto others. She still worked her hardest to take care of everyone else around her, no matter how much pain she was in. Louise remained selfless her entire life. She always put the needs of others in front of her own, no matter how close she was to them. She still enjoyed going to the beach, going to dinner with her family, dancing, playing poker, watching TV with her husband, taking late night drives with her sister Mary, and taking care of stray animals who needed her help. The progressing cancer unfortunately took her life but has not erased the memory of her left behind to so many people. Louise is survived by her adoring husband of 38 years, Tim Kousoulides; her children Dominique and Nicholas; her siblings, Mary Carotenuto, Elizabeth Carotenuto, Michael Carotenuto, and Louie Carotenuto; her nephews Dylan and Christopher Carotenuto; her great-nephew, Luca Carotenuto; her aunt Carmela Dunn; her uncle Rev. Anthony Carotenuto; her many pets, Archer, Batman, Mandy, Boots, Fuzz, Oreo, Waffles, and Moo; and her many, many other loving cousins and friends. There will be a viewing for her on April 7th at Higgins Memorial Home in Freehold, NJ from 5-8pm and a Mass of Christian Burial on April 8th at St. Rose of Lima Church in Freehold, NJ at 10:30am. If possible, please donate to the American Cancer Society in her memory.