Carol Lee (Stevens) Brinkerhoff, 84, known by most as Carol Lee but to a lucky few moms and grannies, was born Wednesday, November 9, 2022 in New Mexico. He passed away after battling dementia for over 10 years in Las Cruces State. Concord of over 55 years, she was predeceased by her husband of 57 years, Milford, Joseph “Bud” Brinkerhoff, her Jr., who died in 2016. ) Brinkerhoff, and Bruce (Heleme) Brinkerhoff; her daughter Carlin (David) Graham. She also has seven grandchildren: Matthew Brinkerhoff, Nicholas Brinkerhoff, Andrew Graham, Sophia Brinkerhoff, Lauren Graham, Frank Brinkerhoff and Orion Massingale. Brinkerhoff was born and raised on Santa Her Cruz, the eldest daughter of Leland and Carol her Stevens. She is survived by her sister Susan (Jack) Cortis. She graduated from Santa Cruz High School in 1956 and entered San Jose State University. After meeting her fellow Santa Cruz resident Wild Buddy Brinkerhoff, they married in 1959 at Santa Cruz’s Holy Cross Catholic Church. And to her parents’ relief and her joy, she continued her SJSU studies and she graduated in 1960 with her Bachelor of Arts degree in Education, earning her teaching qualification. I became a kindergarten teacher. She lived and taught in Visalia for five years before she and Bud moved out. She entered Concord in 1965 and until her retirement in 1990, she was a teacher and administrator in the Akalanes Unified School District. When Mrs. Brinkerhoff retired from being a full-time stay-at-home mom, she returned to her place of work. When asked what she is most proud of, Mrs. Brinkerhoff replied, “Being a supportive wife, mother and grandmother who practiced and taught honesty, charity and love as best I could. .” She warmly welcomed the spouses and extended families of her children and all those affectionately referred to as “at stake” and said, “We at the MTAB are truly MIL. I unanimously agreed that I won the lottery in CLB as a. Mrs. Brinkerhoff was passionate about baking her birthday cake, with unique handcrafted cakes depicting everything from toy trains to Pokémon characters. What happened to be the taste of the moment for her grandchildren was the subject of that birthday cake, each of her grandchildren realizing they had reached the custom cutoff age of 16 for her cake. was a sad birthday. Bonaventure Her Catholic Church played a central role in Mrs. Brinkerhoff’s life. For over 53 years she has been an active parishioner in numerous behind-the-scenes service roles and was absolutely mortified when her longtime work was publicly recognized by the Auckland Parish Council. rice field.Bonaventure Catholic Church, then buried at Dixon in Sacramento Valley National Cemetery
Published by East Bay Times on January 8, 2023.