Soroptimist International of Novato

In Loving Memory of Carole Bennett

 

Carole Bennett (aka Carole Brimhall, Carole Bielefeld, Carole Jarrett) was born in 1943 in Long Beach, California, of James Hubert Brimhall (1895-1959) from Missouri and Vera Staley Brimhall (1903-1994) from England. She was the youngest of a large family and was the first one to graduate from college eventually attaining a doctoral degree in education. She began working part-time at 14 years of age and worked her whole life until she retired from education in 2012. In 1968 she began her educational career teaching home economics and business classes in Laguna Beach, Tustin, and Irvine. After moving to northern California, she worked at Rancho Cotate High School, Solano Community College, and American River College. Before retiring in 2012 she taught courses in Business and Computer Studies at Santa Rosa Junior College and helped launch online teaching. Carole was married to William Bielefeld (d), William Jarrett, and finally the love of her life Norman Ciampi. Carole had no children and has no living siblings. Carole was an active person her whole life and excelled in leadership positions. In high school and college she was in clubs and sororities. In southern California, she was active in the California Home Economics Association as a state-wide officer and appointed to the Commission on the Status of Women of Orange County. As a school administrator at the Orange County Department of Education, she was instrumental in starting the county's first public child care programs. After retirement from education in 2012 in northern California, she was active with Soroptimist International of Novato. As a volunteer with the Buck Institute Research on Aging, she was the Chair of the North Bay Science Discovery Day, the one-day event to get kids excited about STEM education and careers which reached 20,000 attendance. Carole Bennett passed away on June 16, 2021 surrounded by loved ones. She will be greatly missed.