My deepest condolences to Carole's family and a big loss to Gente. Good night and rest in peace.

Mark

Thank you all for your wonderful messages. I will be forwarding them all to Carole's son. I'm sure he will be deeply touched. I have set up the donation box on this site to accept donations for those of you have shown an interest. There is no donation amount requirement. All is welcome and appreciated. For those of you who have chosen to send your own flowers thank you - and for everyone - thank you for being such wonderful friends to us and to this forum. Please also feel free to send messages and I will forward them - these would also be appreciated and welcomed very much.

This was a stunning shock ... I haven't posted ... since I found out just as I got home from my Grandmother's funeral.

Carole will be greatly missed.

Hi everyone,

this is Caroles son Sergio here, i am quite taken aback at the lovely kind words here about my mum, i am touched and wanted to thank you all for such kind messages at this awful time for myself and my family.

My mum loved helping people here, i have inherited the most incredible family history going back to the 1800's that i never knew about until up to a few years ago, no doubt some people within this site helped her with this, and for this i am truly grateful.

no words can express the loss i feel, my mum was a pain in the ass sometimes (whos isnt) but she achieved her dream of retiring to Italy, a country she fell in love with after marrying my later father in the late 60's, her one true love.

Sept 2nd this week is her birthday, and also the day of her funeral, i will give my mum the best birthday present i can and thats laying her beside my father after a 25 year absence since his passing.

i dont really know what else to say beyond this, thanks to all of you who spoke to her, helped her, that she helped, and please can you all continue this site and help others that want to find their roots and family histories.

if any of you would like to send flowers or messages this Thursday then please feel free, my family would welcome this.

once again from the bottom of mine and my families heart

Thank You x

Sergio, I have heard your Mum speak of you often. She was very proud of you! May God bless you and give you comfort at this most difficult time. You and your Mum will remain in my prayers.

Bob, I'm sorry to hear of your grandmother's passing. I will keep her in my prayers.

Sergio, thank you for stopping by and keeping us updated on things. I think choosing her birthday to reunite her with your father was a great decision. It's also nice that they will both be nearby for you to visit. Please feel free to stop by whenever you feel the urge to talk to someone and know we are here for you. Your mother was a class act - she was always the voice of reason and the 'level headed' one of the group.

But there were several other sides of your mother - the translator, the organizer, the disciplinarian, the one who cried privately because she thought she had hurt someones feelings (or someone had hurt hers) and the side that was literally from Outer Space- a.k.a Marte which we will have to tell you about one day - which was classic!
Yes, she could definitely play a joke and was unstoppable once she started. She loved it here on Gente because she said that it was a place she could have fun with people who also wanted to have fun while still researching .."unlike some of those stuffer sites".

Once in an email the question was asked of how she would like to be remembered and her reply was "Remember me Kindly".. and we do.

Sergio I'm so glad to see you've had the chance to see what your mom meant to all of us. Nuccia summed it up best by saying your mom was a practicle joker, loved to have fun while we researched, loved to teach as well as her love of learning. I hope you get an opportunity to read through some of the threads where your mom played a big role in helping us find our roots. Last but not least............this was always your mom's favorite thing to post.....LOL



Your mom will be in our hearts forever.

Sergio sent me the pictures of the flowers from Carole's service on Thursday. He asked me to post them here and I am. Gente sent a large wreath with purplish/blue and white flowers (since it would have been Carole's 69th birthday and it was September, I immediately thought of sapphires) and so this seemed appropriate.

Gente di Mare Flowers

Carole's Flowers

There were also flowers sent from various members of Gente and from Expats in Italy - all very beautiful.

WE will be sending more flowers during the holidays on Gente's behalf as everyone here has been most generous - I have forwarded the names and addresses of all who have contributed to Sergio along with any messages with the flowers.

The service he said was touching and about 30-40 people showed up in full force. The day was lovely and sunny and flowers were lined up along the borders of grave. He will be getting the headstone ordered within a few weeks once the ground has settled. Finally Carole is with Bruno - where I know she wants to be.

Nuccia, your instincts regarding September and sapphires were impeccable--the flowers are beautiful!

Nuccia, Without you there will be no Gente. Your a Saint!

I just returned from vacation and learned about Carole's departure. She has always been very helpful and I will definitely miss her! Rest in peace Carole.

Here are some more pictures of Carole's Memorial/Funeral Service -

Church of the Good Shepherd

Burial


Carole's Final Resting Place

Family

Good Friends

I have just logged back on and it has been a long time so learning about Carole just now, very sad, she was very helpful to me in finding my family in Sicily through research, condolences to her loved ones.

Nuccia thank you so much for posting those pictures. It looks a lovely peaceful place - I'm sure Carole will rest in peace there.
But knowing Carole I guess she'll still be keeping an eye on us from above.
God Bless
Emmy

I know I don't pop in here nearly often enough, so I see that I am so late to learn the sad news of Carole. She was one of the first people to contact me and offer help and advice when I joined this group, which was so appreciated. I'm very sad to hear of her passing and I hope that her family is doing OK. I will miss reading everything that she had to share here.