SOUTHPORT — Carolyn Preston Zarbock died at her home surrounded by her family on Friday, March 22, 2024.
She was 91. Born December 16, 1932, in Carlinville, Illinois, Zarbock was the only child of S.P. and Gladys Preston. The Prestons were the publishers of The Gillespie News Publishing Co. She graduated from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana in 1954, with a bachelor’s of science in elementary education.
It was during her college years she met and fell in love with Paul Gerhard Zarbock while attending summer school at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. The two were married on June 19, 1954.
After her marriage, Zarbock began her teaching career and ultimately taught in schools in Madison, Wisconsin; Alexandria, Virginia; and Knoxville, Tennessee, where her husband was a professor at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville.
She was preceded in death by her husband, who passed away in 2011. Together, they shared a daughter, Sarah Zarbock Garner (Griff), and two granddaughters, Jessica Ann Garner (Murtaza Ali) and Margaret Garner Erpenbeck (Brayden).
She is also survived by two great-grandchildren, Carter and Sophia Carolyn Erpenbeck. The Zarbocks were lifelong volunteers, forever dedicated to their communities and family.
Zarbock was a devoted hospital volunteer, serving as volunteer president three times during her decades of service. She also was a past board member and president of the North Carolina Hospital Volunteers and spent three years as a board member of the American Hospital Association Committee on Volunteers.
In addition to serving as a Dosher Memorial Hospital volunteer in Southport, she volunteered at the Southport Visitors Center and Southport/Oak Island Food Pantry. She was also an active member of St. Peter Lutheran Church in Southport.
Zarbock will be buried with her husband at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Knoxville, the city where they raised their family.
The family will receive friends at their home on Saturday, March 30, 2024 from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made in her name to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis.
Condolences may be left for the family here.
