Carolyn Kirby Bober

Carolyn Kirby Bober, 88, of Corpus Christi, TX, went Home to the Lord on April 13, 2023, after post-surgical complications. She is survived by her daughter Alison Carol Bober and son-in-law Douglas Daniel Gardner of Corpus Christi, TX, and granddaughters Madeline Bober Gardner of Brookline, MA, and Isabel Bober Gardner of New York, NY. She is preceded in death by parents Mary Carolyn Stanley Kirby and John DeMoville Kirby, sister Margaret Ann Kirby Carapezza, husband Michael Bober, and daughter Diana Lynn Bober.

Carolyn Stanley Kirby was born in Birmingham, AL, on July 12, 1934, to Mary and John Kirby. Carolyn’s salesman father traveled often, and her mother moved herself, Carolyn, and Carolyn’s big sister (by three years) Margaret Ann back to her hometown of Columbus, MS, when Carolyn was about two, returning to Birmingham when Carolyn was about ten. Carolyn’s parents divorced shortly thereafter, in 1946, and Mary raised the two girls as a single mother, working hard to support them.

Carolyn always earned good grades in school, but didn’t consider college until much later in life, when she earned her Associate Degree from Del Mar College, Corpus Christi, TX, in 1997. In 1952, when she graduated from West End High School in Birmingham, AL, she was a member of the Honor Society, Vice-President of the Senior Class, and on the staff of the school newspaper and yearbook.

Carolyn’s stated ambition in her high school yearbook was “to travel around the world”. And she did! After using her shorthand skills as a secretary for the U.S. Steel Corporation and for Armour & Company in Birmingham, AL, she went to work for the U.S. Government in 1959. She traveled first to Washington, D.C., and then to Tehran, Iran. Her first day there, being picked up from the airport, she met the love of her life, Michael Bober. Carolyn had already broken off two engagements in Birmingham, AL, but Mike would be the one that would last. They married in 1960 and honeymooned in Beirut, Lebanon, and Athens, Greece. Two daughters were born, in 1962 (Alison) and 1963 (Diana), and Carolyn left her job to become a homemaker. The family moved back to the Washington, D.C. area in 1963, then overseas again in 1968 to Athens, Greece, for three years, and then back to D.C. and then San Antonio, TX. In 1975, Mike retired, and the family moved to Corpus Christi, TX. Throughout these years, the family traveled by plane, ship, train, car, tent, pop-up camper, and sailboat throughout Europe and the United States. Mike named the sailboat they bought to keep at Canyon Lake, TX, and then Corpus Christi, TX, “Carrie” in Carolyn’s honor. After years of sailing, camping, and roadtrips, Carolyn and Mike left it all behind in 1985 to spend two years pulling an Airstream trailer throughout the U.S. and Canada. Their daughters often knew where they were only from the postcards!

In later years, Carolyn and Mike took several fun (low-stakes) gambling trips to Biloxi, MS, and Las Vegas, NV. The rest of the family often joined in. After Mike passed in 2005, Carolyn began playing Texas Hold’Em in social games around Corpus Christi, TX, and even entered the World Series of Poker Tournament in Las Vegas with daughter Diana in 2016!

Carolyn had returned to work when her daughters were in middle school, as a temp secretary, transcriptionist, realtor (Donna Shirley Realty), real estate appraiser, and customer service representative/assistant manager (Avis Rent-A-Car). But her passion was theater, and she appeared in plays in high school and community theater in Birmingham, AL, and, in later years, at Harbor Playhouse, Corpus Christi, TX (including alongside her daughters Alison and Diana in “The Best Little Outhouse in Texas” summer melodrama in 1980).

While Carolyn grew up poor in the rural, segregated South, her mother taught her to treat everyone equally and graciously, and indeed Carolyn will be remembered for her ability to talk to anyone, anywhere, anytime, with a sincere interest in their life. She practiced a faithful joy in each day, and always made a person feel seen, whether she was listening to the story of a bad day or admiring a beautiful tattoo. Her legacy of kindness and engagement lives on in all the people whose lives she touched.

Carolyn’s family is thankful for the loving care received from Corpus Christi Medical Center Bay Area, Del Cielo Home Hospice, and Funeraria Del Angel - Memorial Holly. In lieu of flowers, offer a smile to a stranger in Carolyn’s honor.

An open house celebrating Carolyn's life will be held at 3320 Bali Drive on Sunday, April 23, 2023, from 1-4pm.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.FunerariaDelAngelMHolly.com for the Bober family.