From childhood ballroom dancing classes, to designing the green room at the 80th annual “Oscars,” Carleton Varney lived, as citizens would call, “an extraordinary life.”
“He was quite a man — he was so fun, so generous; he was a very special person,” said Ellenor Alvarez, a friend who graduated from Lynn English High School in 1954 with him.
Varney was born in Lynn and raised in Nahant, where he played basketball, took acrobatic tap lessons, and competed in flower arranging contests. When he went to high school, he was a co-editor and artist of the school magazine, “Red and Gray.”
Maryjane English, who went to the senior prom with Varney, said she would describe her friend, who was nicknamed “Mr. Color” by his classmates, as “outgoing, friendly, and handsome.”
“He never wore a tie, but he always had on a colorful scarf, and red socks in honor of his favorite actor, Van Johnson,” she said.
After high school, Varney went on to attend Oberlin College in Ohio, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree. From there he moved to NYC to start his career as a designer.
Varney became a close friend to American Interior Decorator Dorothy Draper, owner and founder of “Dorothy Draper and Co.” She appointed Varney as the company’s president, for which he served more than 50 years.
Brinsley Matthews, the company’s vice president, said Varney’s “charm and sense of humor never failed” in a tribute to him on the company’s website.
“Carleton was a true professional — an innovator, an original, the best colorist in the USA — and a person of the highest standards,” she said.
Throughout his career, Varney decorated the Waldorf Towers in Miami, the Plaza Hotel in NYC, the Breakers Hotel in Palm Beach, and designed numerous White House events, including a luncheon for First Lady Rosalyn Carter. He also wrote an autobiography, “Houses in my heart: An International Decorator’s Colorful Journey,” along with over 30 other books.
Varney and his wife, Suzanne, had three sons, Nicholas, Seamus, and Sebastian, with whom he left Dorothy Draper and Co.
Although he was very busy, classmates said he made a point to make it to his high school reunions, where he brought each classmate an expensive gift.
David Cohen, a friend and chairman of the reunion committee, said that he remembers Varney as a “genius,” who was “instrumental” and a huge success at class reunions.
“He went to 80 percent of the reunions. The only times he didn’t come were when he was doing business with a client,” he said. “He was extremely generous.”
The reunions were held annually at the Porthole Pub in Lynn, which closed in 2018. The last reunion was held at the Continental in Saugus before the pandemic.
Over the course of his life, Varney owned multiple properties, including an 18th century manor house in County Limerick, Ireland, known as “Shannongrove.” He retired and moved to Palm Beach, Fla., where he wrote as a columnist for the local newspaper “Palm Beach Daily News.”
Alvarez said it was “special” that Varney remembered all of his classmates and it showed that he cared about them.
“He was very humble; he would always end with a funny story when talking about his travels,” she said.
Varney, 85, passed away on July 14 at a rehabilitation facility in Palm Beach.
Rachel Galatis can be reached at [email protected].
