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Carole Korb

1941-2023

Carole Joy Korb, passed away on March 8, 2023, in Redwood City, California, of natural causes.

Carole was born on January 16, 1941, in Bridgeport, Connecticut, to Irene and Irving Levinson. She grew up with loving parents, a devoted younger brother, Howard, and numerous aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents. Carole attended the University of Connecticut, where she pledged Phi Sigma Sigma and met her husband, Barry Korb. The couple lived in Connecticut with their two daughters, Jodi and Rena. After their divorce, Carole moved to Los Angeles in 1975 where she built a new life and career before moving to Pismo Beach. In 2013, she followed her girls and their families to the Bay Area, where she lived at Rossmoor in Walnut Creek.

Carole originally trained to be a special education teacher — one of the first in the program at UConn. After receiving a Master’s Degree and devoting many years to her profession, she reinvented herself as a businesswoman to better support her family. An early adopter of alternative medicines and natural foods, she merged her career goals with her personal interests to launch a successful sales and marketing business that developed over the years to focus on specialty foods and natural wellness products.

During the pandemic, Carole was diagnosed with progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), a rare degenerative brain condition. She had visited doctors for several years, trying to discover the cause of her numerous falls and difficulties moving her eyes to read. Carole staved off symptoms of her condition much longer than many others, which her doctors credited to her own determination. But ultimately she succumbed to the physical disabilities of the condition.

Carole was best known for her fierce, fun, and independent spirit. She was open-minded and progressive, a woman ahead of her time. A good and non-judgemental listener, Carole maintained lifelong friends from every stage of her life including her schoolmates from Bridgeport and Phi Sigma Sigma sorority sisters. She loved reading, crossword puzzles, gardening, and shopping, and she created strong bonds to Jewish communities everywhere she lived. In the last years of her life, her passions were movies, chocolate cupcakes, and cheeseburgers.

Carole was devoted to her family. She was a present and involved mother, doing jigsaw puzzles with her kids, answering the phone no matter the time of day, providing practical advice about life, and offering unconditional support. She loved to host her family and bring everyone together, spoiling her grandchildren whenever possible.

Carole leaves behind her daughters, Jodi and Rena Korb; their husbands, Mitchell Wortzman and Jason Bell; and four grandchildren, Samuel and Zoe Wortzman, and Jonas and Eliza Bell; as well as her brother Howard Levinson, his wife Shelley, and her three nephews.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to CurePSP or National Council of Jewish Women in Carole’s memory.