Carol Hulsizer died on June 19 at Brookhaven in Lexington.

Always amazed by her life’s journey, Carol thought often of the advice of her father, Noah, who escaped the Cossacks and came to America steerage from Odessa — to take nothing for granted.

She was born in Maplewood, N.J., in 1927 and graduated from Smith College in 1948 with a newly-created major in Slavic studies. Armed with Russian language skills (and the Speedwriting School degree that qualified her for the actual job market), she was hired as a researcher by Time Magazine. She was fascinated by the world of journalism, which ultimately led to a freelance career in nonfiction writing and editing.

She married Robert Ascher, a New York psychoanalyst, raised a family, and became active in local community affairs, serving as a Democratic district leader in Westchester County. Divorce in 1967 followed by remarriage to Robert Hulsizer, an MIT physicist, brought her to Lexington and then to Ashdown House, the MIT graduate dormitory where she and her husband held joint appointments as housemasters. They created new opportunities for international students to interact and learn about American life.

While at MIT, Carol worked for nonprofit organizations around Boston, including the YWCA and the Women’s Technical Institute, where she produced materials to support women entering into nontraditional technical jobs. During the 1980s and 1990s, she served as publications director of Action for Children’s Television (ACT), working to influence legislators, regulators, broadcasters, and parents to improve family television viewing. In her career, Carol edited manuscripts for nonfiction books ranging from religious themes to biographies to managing work after illness.

Later in life, she tutored elementary school students in Cambridge and then became an avid student herself, enrolling in the Harvard Institute for Learning in Retirement, where she studied topics from Proust to her favorite Russian literature until age 90.

She had an amazing talent for friendship. Many friends, both on and off the Island, have recounting her warmth, and the joy of being around her, dissecting together the social and political world — what Carol called “the delicious drama of the human condition.” MSNBC’s ratings will no doubt go down now that she isn’t tuned to it 24/7.

She had good years and some not as good, but she met all of them with the same humor and determination. She was proud of having visited the Vineyard for 67 consecutive years and the house she and Bob Hulsizer built on South Road in Chilmark. After it was sold, she delighted at staying at the cottage she rented from the Fischers on their farm. She had fond memories of a sabbatical year in Paris with Bob in 1973.

She is survived by her daughters Elizabeth Ascher and Ellen Ascher, her son Steven Ascher, her stepson Stephen Hulsizer, stepdaughters Ann Wymore, Morgan Jenkins, and Cynthia Hulsizer, and seven grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held at the MIT chapel on Friday, Sept. 14 at 2 p.m. Her ashes will be buried at Abel’s Hill Cemetery next summer.