Caroline Marie Schmalz was born Nov. 5, 1943, in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, the youngest of three children. After bouncing around the Midwest for much of her youth, her family moved to Edina, Minnesota, where she graduated from Edina High in 1961. She attended University of Minnesota that fall, majoring in English. Although she always hoped to get an upgrade on the last name she was born with—Wetzbarger—fate intervened when, early in her college career, she met Robert Schmalz. The two fell in love and married Aug. 28, 1964. Carol was a crack student and avid reader, and graduated two quarters early. She and Bob decided they would make their life together in California, and they moved to Orinda in 1968. She got a job teaching elementary school while Bob worked at a law firm in San Francisco. She loved teaching and was a natural, as evidenced in a May 1972 evaluation of her performance teaching her 3rd grade class at Vallecito Elementary in Lafayette. Her principal wrote, “She provides [her students] with a beautiful atmosphere in which to discover for themselves, and her rare sense of humor keeps the classroom on a high plane...Carol’s ability to diagnose children and to prescribe for them...make her a wonderful asset to any staff.” After her first son, Peter, was born in 1973, she retired from teaching to devote herself to raising a family. Two more sons followed: David in 1975 and Brian in 1980, and for the rest of her years she would tell people that her job was raising three boys. She was a loving mother, but she was tough—she didn’t let anything slide. Yet like her 1972 evaluation said, she gave her sons much freedom to discover for themselves, and let them roam unsupervised through the creeks and hills of Orinda. Throughout her life she was a lover of animals, and always made sure there were cats in the house and, for many years, dogs too. That love of pets was passed down to everyone in the family. In her twilight years, her closest friend was a Maine Coon cat, Buster, who could always sense when she needed a lift. He would hop onto her lap, then onto the back of her chair, and hang out with her for hours. Carol also loved to garden, and the English garden she planted around her Orinda house is the greatest piece of art she ever created—it’s intentionally designed so there’s at least one kind of plant blooming on every day of the year. She also adored traveling, and aside from the more standard adventures in Europe, she traveled extensively in Africa, India, the Middle East, Asia and Southeast Asia. Both her family and friends cherished her quick wit, fearless candor and unrelenting encouragement. Carol passed away peacefully Aug. 13 in her Orinda home of 45 years, per her wishes. She is survived by her loving husband Bob; sons Brian, David and Peter; granddaughter Mya and grandson Owen; cat Buster and nephew Scott Brandt.
She was mom, she was the glue, and her family will forever miss her.