North Shore Death Notices: Dec. 26 To Jan. 1

The following death notices were added to funeral homes serving the North Shore area in the past week. Those homes have provided obituaries for some of those that have passed away recently. Patch offers condolences to their loved ones, links to their obituaries and notices of upcoming services below.

Chicago Jewish Funerals, 8851 Skokie Blvd. in Skokie and 195 N. Buffalo Grove Road in Buffalo Grove

Alan S. Bramson, 81, Glenview
Service Jan. 6

Marlene Joyce Voyles, 76, Northbrook
Service Jan. 6

Michael S. Froman, 72, Wilmette
Service Jan. 6

Sylvia Fiddler, 101, Chicago

Edith J. Berkson née Pearlman, 96, Lincolnwood

Bruce Alan Littman, 95, Chicago

Eve S. Kohn née Selig, 93, Chicago

Saloman Rombalski, 92, Chicago

Dorothy Starkman née White, 92, Highland Park

Joseph Samuel Levine, 90, Long Boat Key, Florida

Zinaida Kogan, 88, Chicago

Peter Gerber, 83, Buffalo Grove

Morris Esformes, 76, Miami Beach

Lidiya Moroz née Rivelis, 76, Chicago

Lisa Ann Schreier, 65, Clermont, Florida

Donnellan Funeral Home, 10045 Skokie Blvd. in Skokie

William “Bill” Joseph Smith, 84, Libertyville
Service Jan. 6

James "Jimmy" Pollard, 82, Evanston
Service Jan. 6

Frank Joseph Frelka, 67, Northfield
Visitation Jan. 6, service Jan. 7

Gerald “Jerry” Flaherty, 84, Winnetka
Service Jan. 9

Carolyn Kay Brooks, 76, Evanston
Service Jan. 22

William “Bill” Townsend Weaver, 79, Wilmette
Service Feb. 5

Barbara O’Neill Steinschneider, 94, Winnetka

Helen C. DeVogelaere, 92, Glenview

Jay Anthony Lipe, 92, New Buffalo, Michigan

Anthonius Walter Graft, 88, Northbrook

Paul Delmar Engstrom, 84, Chicago

Richard "Rick" George Carle, 79, Evanston

Haben Funeral Home, 8057 Niles Center Road in Skokie

George J. Mohrlein, 84, Skokie
Visitation Jan. 4, service Jan. 5

Eleanor C. Bremer née May, 94, Niles
Visitation Jan. 5, service Jan. 6

Dawn Yolonda Williams, 51, Morton Grove
Service Jan. 7

Guillermo Calderon Rivera, 85, Chicago

Michelle Cheney née Tero, 72, Skokie

Thompson Funeral and Cremation, 1917 Asbury Ave. in Evanston

Michelle Ann Marie Reid Mitchell, 50, Skokie
Visitation Jan. 4, service Jan. 5

Winston Gilbert Gillett, 76, Evanston
Visitation Jan. 13, service Jan. 14

Mary Rebecca Forrester née Palmer, 74, Evanston

Zeltee Edwards, 72, Evanston

Evanston Funeral and Cremation, 1726 Central St. in Evanston

Howard Neil Rubin, 82, Skokie

N. H. Scott & Hanekamp Funeral Home, 1240 Waukegan Road in Glenview

Inge H. Braun née Brade, 88, Northbrook
Service Jan. 6

Barbara Petronella Kleyweg, 95, Evanston
Service Jan. 21

Rosalyn Irene Aranda née Waggoner, 75, Glenview
Service May 6

Mohammed Rahim, 78, Northbrook

Simkins Funeral Home, 6251 Dempster St. in Morton Grove

Kathleen Vlamis née Grear, 71, Morton Grove

Weinstein & Piser Funeral Home, 111 Skokie Blvd. in Wilmette

Lois B. Hazen, 83, Skokie
Service Jan. 5

Alvin "Jinx" Kalmin, 93, Northbrook
Service Jan. 6

Alice M. Berkman, 86, Skokie

Harriet Engel Gross, 86, Chicago

Alex Mindich, 85, Glenview

Naomi Berkowitz née Lupel, 84, Chicago

Deborah S. Donberg, 79, Chicago

Kelley & Spalding Funeral Home, 1787 Deerfield Road in Highland Park

Laurence A. Dondanville, 94, Deerfield
Visitation Jan. 8, service Jan. 9

Peter Lorimer Gail, 80, Northbrook

Seguin & Symonds Funeral Home, 858 Sheridan Road in Highwood and 11 West Belvidere Road in Grayslake

Bonnie Dale Hyland, 60, Des Plaines
Visitation Jan. 6, service Jan. 7

Perla Erazo, 5 days, Waukegan
Service Jan. 14

Wenban Funeral Home, 320 Vine Ave. in Lake Forest

Audrey Semmelman, 89, Lake Forest

Judy Elizabeth Bagatti, 86, Lake Forest

Reuland & Turnbough Funeral Home, 1407 N. Western Ave. in Lake Forest

Robert "Bob" Theodore Matthei, 87, Lake Forest
Service Jan. 6

Featured Obituary:

Carolyn Kay Brooks, of Evanston, Illinois, died peacefully on Christmas Day, December 25, 2022. Carolyn was born on February 22, 1946, in Kansas City Missouri, to Sam and Kay Montesano. She graduated from Kansas City, Northeast HIgh School in 1964. She attended Central Missouri State University, earning her Bachelors of Science in Education in 1968. Later, she received a Master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction from National Louis University.

In the same year as her college graduation, she wed her high-school sweetheart, Richard Brooks on January 27, 1968. Two years later, in 1970, Carolyn gave birth to their older son, Judson. And in 1974, she gave birth to their younger son, Adam. She carried an intense devotion to her family by modeling the family values of loyalty, perseverance, commitment, responsibility and resilience that she inherited from her childhood experiences in her Italian-American household as a child.

Carolyn was widely admired for her beauty, style and graceful presentation. She took these attributes into her adult life as a gentle and classy hostess of countless parties and reunions with family and friends. Competence, intuition and social awareness, generosity, and above all, caring, are the characteristics that best defined Carolyn's life. She was completely dedicated to her career as an elementary school teacher for 37 years–mostly in Skokie School District 68. She would routinely be stopped in public places by children and adults alike thanking “Mrs. Brooks” for the positive impact that she had on their lives. Similarly, teachers and co-workers benefited from her work as President of the Teachers Association. She was gentle, yet strong as a leader, but also understood when to be a leader and when to be a team member. These qualities applied to her roles as a teacher, a wife and a mother. As a result, she found success establishing a caring environment for her two sons to flourish. She also helped a multitude of children learn, develop as persons, and love school. Additionally, she represented the teachers well when negotiating with school board attorneys.

Beyond her career and her family, Carolyn left a positive impact on the larger community by volunteering in many roles over time from hosting soup kitchens for the homeless to providing “sibling tours” of the Evanston Hospital. As an active member of the Woman's Club of Evanston for many years, she served on various committees and appeared on stage in the annual woman’s club show. Her favorite role was playing the “good witch” in the “Fairy Tail Trail”. Carolyn was also an important member of St. Mark's Episcopal Church for more than four decades. She served in multiple roles for the church. Those roles include: several terms as a vestry member; serving on many committees; leading social justice initiatives; and playing a vital role in the largest fundraising effort in the history of the parish.

Send obituaries and images to your Patch to be included in future editions: Deerfield, Evanston, Glenview, Highland Park, Lake Bluff-Lake Forest, Niles-Morton Grove, Northbrook, Skokie, Winnetka-Glencoe-Northbrook, Wilmette-Kenilworth

Last week: North Shore Death Notices: Dec. 19 to Dec. 25