Norfolk—Carole Ruth Sacks, 90, of the 1300 block of Debree Avenue in Norfolk, passed away peacefully on Sunday, December 19, 2021 in Norfolk.
Carole was born on July 15, 1931, in Brooklyn, New York, to Louis H. Freedman and Katherine Frank Freedman.
When Carole was four years old, the family moved from Brooklyn to Cedarhurst, Long Island, New York. Then Carole lived with her family, a sister and her mother and father, until she met and married Stanely E. Sacks, then a young lawyer who was practicing law with his father, Herman A. Sacks, a prominent attorney in Norfolk.
Carole attended public schools in Long Island, and after graduation she attended Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, from which she graduated. While at Cornell, Carole was a sorority sister and friend of the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who eventually became an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.
She was an outgoing young lady; she was beautiful; she was popular; she was well-liked and had many friends. She was a leader among her host of friends.
She always enjoyed the outdoors, and every summer she would go to Atlantic Beach, New York, where she belonged to one of the popular summer beach clubs. In fact, it was on the beach, in front of her club, where she met her future husband, Stanley. He and a friend were in New York for a wedding for another friend from Virginia, who also had just gone to the beach that day for a few hours.
Stanley and his group were walking along the beach when they met Carole and her group. That resulted in a date where they dined at a beautiful restaurant in New York City, a date that they would remember for the rest of their lives.
That culminated in 13 weekends of Stanley driving to New York to see Carole. A wedding engagement resulted and they were married on July 22, 1953, the beginning of 68 years of marriage. The longest time of separation was a trip to Holland for a tulip festival. Tulips were Carole’s favorite flowers. She led that trip for herself for two weeks with two other girlfriends.
Carole loved Norfolk and the area. She blended in perfectly with Stanley and the many young married couples he knew.
She started her community and charity work, which she continued over the years. She was an accomplished pianist and frequently serenaded family and friends. She loved art museums.
She even made sure that she had both Moderna vaccinations and the booster.
She loved traveling and every summer she and Stanley would vacation in England or Ireland, or another of the European countries.
Also, one of her favorite pastimes was shopping and she was good at it, and at home in the big stores in New York like Bergdorf Goodman and Bloomingdales as well as the stores in Tidewater and neighboring towns. She also loved antiquing. She located and had a favorite store– a dress shop in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, and on many weekends she was inside buying while Stanely waited outside working on legal files in the car.
In the latter years, one of her little habits was that right after breakfast, she would go into the den and into her favorite chair; and most of the time, she took with her a napkin with 3 or 4 chocolate chip cookies. She watched television a large part of the day, watching the news and current events. She also followed and knew all of the political presentations of the various politicians and office holders. She faithfully worked the local polls during elections for years.
Carole loved her children: her son, Andrew, and daughter, Bette Ann. They were the joy of her life. She loved her family in New York: her mother and father and sister, Iris; as well as a number of nieces and nephews. She absolutely adored her 7 grandchildren. Moreover, she was kind to everyone.
Her family and her friends are heartbroken at her loss and will miss her beyond words.
She is survived by her husband of 68 years, Stanley Sacks; her sister, Iris; Iris’ son, Jeffrey, and Iris’ daughter, Debbie; her sister-in-law, Nancy Jacobson, of Norfolk; her son, Andrew Sacks, of Norfolk, and Andrew’s wife, Janice Sacks; her daughter, Bette Ann Albert, of Colorado Springs, Colorado, and Bette Ann’s husband, Dr. James Albert; and her 7 adoring grandchildren: Noah, Stella, Marlena, Vera, Aurora, Brittany (Sanders) and Remy.
A memorial service was held at the Norfolk Chapel of H.D. Oliver Funeral Apartments. Burial was private.
Memorial donations may be made to The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, of which she was an avid supporter, in Washington, D.C., or to a charity of one’s choice. Online condolences may be shared with the family at www.hdoliver.com.