1979

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Carol Sarappa Arnold MBA ’79, the wife of Dr. Charles "Buddy" Arnold, formerly of Cullison, was born Sept. 1, 1942, in Camden, N.J. Her parents were Vincenzo James Sarappa and Stella Marie Sarappa of Waterford Works, N.J. Carol grew up in Waterford Works, and in 1960 graduated from Edgewood High School. Carol was a National Honor Society member, National Arts Honor Society member, Student Council member, on school sports teams, editor-in-Chief of her senior yearbook, and a high school cheerleader. Carol attended on scholarship Douglass College which is the ladies’ division of Rutgers University of New Jersey. During college she swam for four years with the Niereds, the Douglass Synchronized Women’s Swimming team, was a member of the Chemistry Club, and graduated in 1964 with an AB in Bacteriology with a minor in Chemistry. As an aside, she did three years of German language studies.
 
After Douglass College, Carol worked as a laboratory scientist in the animal drug research laboratories of major pharmacy companies located in the Philadelphia, Pa., area until her marriage to David Wilson. Sadly, Carol lost two babies prematurely during pregnancy, something that affected her deeply. Eventually, David and Carol separated. Carol returned to work at Smith Klein Pharmaceutical Company (SKP) and later in 1972 was transferred to their new Palo Alto, Calif., division.
 
During her Palo Alto presence and promotions, Carol became aware she needed additional business knowledge, so while working, she began an evening business program at Santa Clara University where she completed her MBA with honors in 1980. During that time, Carol was managing Seven Reports to her section in her SKP company position which required an extensive amount of travel especially to multiple European sites. After she received her MBA, SKP planned to promote her, and to have her return and work at the headquarters in Philadelphia. But, by that time she had become a "California lady" and so took early retirement.
 
A year after leaving SKP, Carol entered the financial planning world, secured her appropriate licensing, and in 1989 acquired her CFP (Certified Financial Planner) credential. She then developed a very busy successful CFP practice founding with associates the Foothill Financial Group in Silicon Valley. In 1991 she became a member of the Practitioner Division of the International Association for Financial Planning.
 
In 1998, after her husband retired, they moved from Atherton, Calif., to Tiburon, Calif., and she moved her CFP practice office with her assistant to her new home in Tiburon. On Dec. 30,1980 Carol married Dr. Charles Arnold, a Palo Alto Medical Foundation internist/oncologist whom she met on an Apre Ski Club trip to Banff, Canada in March 1979. During their marriage, Carol and Charles both enjoyed elegant indoor festivities such as dining, house parties, reunions, plays, music, operas, ballet, and personal ballroom dancing. They also were both outdoor people, who enjoyed national parks, saddle pack trips in the high California Sierra Mountains, and stream and lake fishing.
 
Charles assisted Carol in obtaining her California hunting license, they became international scuba divers, and sailed on many world wide cruises with friends. Despite injuries and fractures, they also became reasonably advanced mountain snow skiers and enjoyed many stunningly beautiful United States, Canadian, and European slopes.
 
In January 2010, Carol set up a three-year buyout retirement sale of her successful CFP practice. In July 2010, Carol was diagnosed as having an ovarian type of cancer. She subsequently in the following four years had the two major surgeries, received extensive cycles of advanced chemotherapy programs, participated in oncology research programs, and had surgical cyber-knife radiotherapy for two small brain metastatic tumors which were successfully treated.
 
Between therapies from 2010 to 2014, Carol and Charles did extensive traveling and cruising with friends and family members to many US and international places. In the last few months Carol’s energy level diminished slowly, she reviewed her chemotherapy options, and decided with her husband and physicians that further research trials would not improve her quality of life. Her final plan was to achieve comfort so that she could enjoy her loving family, her beautiful home, and her fantastic friends.
 
Carol was at home, comfortable and essentially pain free those last few weeks. On Sept. 1st, Carol was alert and celebrated her 72nd birthday with family and a few close and loving buddies. She, at the end, extended blessings and thanks to all who knew her, loved her, and who enjoyed their wonderful active life with her and her husband Charles.
 
Carol is survived by many wonderful friends, her loving husband, loving stepchildren, Gary Arnold, Christopher Arnold, and Lisa Maldewin (husband Greg), her charismatic brother John Sarappa, five wonderful nieces and nephews and many very close cousins.
 
On September 11, Carol’s ashes were interred at the Alta Mesa Cemetery in Palo Alto, CA, followed by a private funeral at St. Stephens Episcopal Church in Tiburon. May her search for successes and her endearing love of the joys of life be carried forever in the hearts of all who shared parts of their life with Carol. May Carol’s God bless each and every one of you as it did her during her life.

 

 

08 Nov 2018