Carolyn Margaret Rooke

1936 - 2017  (81 years)

• Name	Carolyn Margaret Rooke
  Born	21 Oct 1936	Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
  Gender	Female
  Business	Waterloo City, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
  	Brown's Sports
  Name	Carolyn Margaret Zister
  Eby ID Number	Waterloo-75955
  Died	15 Dec 2017	Cambridge, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
  Person ID	I75955	Generations
  Last Modified	28 Jan 2025

  
  

  Father	Carl Jerome Rooke,   b. 27 Dec 1898, , Ontario, Canada ,   d. Yes, date unknown
  Mother	Lottie T. Giles,   b. 1901,   d. 21 Jan 1987, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  (Age 86 years)
  Family ID	F47148	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Harold "Hal" Zister
  Children	1. Lynn Zister
  Last Modified	29 Jan 2025
  Family ID	F43162	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Notes

  ZISTER, Carolyn Margaret 1936 - 2017 The family of Carolyn Zister sadly announces her death on Friday, December 15, 2017, at Lisaard House, at the age of 81. Loving wife of Harold Zister for more than 62 years. Dear mother of Lynn Lubczuk and her husband Steve Lubczuk. Beloved "Nanny" to Matt Lubczuk, Andrew and his wife, Mona Lubczuk, and Alex Lubczuk and his friend Tessa Higgins. Sister-in-law to Jim and Anna Mae Zister and Louis and Sharon Zister. Aunt and great-aunt to Sharilou and Mark Schagena, and their children, Shelley Zister and her partner Darren Strickler, and her children, Sean and Amy Zister, and their children and Shannon and Adam Kasper, and their children. Her grandsons were her pride and joy and they will always carry her memory in their hearts. Carolyn was predeceased by her parents, Lottie Giles Rooke (1986) and Carl J. Rooke (1975), with whom she is now forever reunited. Carolyn was born and raised in Kitchener, and lived her entire life in Waterloo Region. She, along with Harold, were the proprietors of Brown's Sports of Waterloo. She and Harold were inseparable companions, "best friends" and a remarkable couple. They travelled the world together, ran a business together and spent time at their cottage together. Carolyn was involved in many charitable and community groups including Girl Guides, KW Figure Skating Club and, Ducks Unlimited and along with Harold, supported the various charitable works and projects of the Rotary Club of Waterloo, for more than 40 years. In recognition of her contributions to Rotary, she was awarded a Paul Harris Fellowship in 2009. Carolyn was a master quilter, well known for her beautiful quilts. She spent many happy hours engaged in her hobby and won recognition and awards for her quilting, and quilted creations, which were displayed in various galleries and competitions in the Region and in the United States. She has left many beautiful quilted works of art for her family to enjoy and remember her by. Harold and the family wish to extend heartfelt thanks to the staff of Lisaard House for their kindness and care given to Carolyn during her final illness. Carolyn's family will receive relatives and friends on Monday, December 18, 2017 from 5-8 p.m. at the Henry Walser Funeral Home , 507 Frederick St., Kitchener, 519-749-8467. Prayer vigil 7: 30 p.m. Monday. Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at St. Francis of Assisi Church, on Tuesday, December 19, 2017 at 11: 00 a.m. followed by a reception at the funeral home. Interment in her family plot at Mount Hope Cemetery, Kitchener. As expressions of sympathy, donations to Lisaard House, or the Kitchener Waterloo Humane Society would be appreciated by the family (cards available at the funeral home). Visit www.henrywalser.com for Carolyn's memorial. Waterloo Region Record: Dec 18, 2017 Event Date: Dec 15, 2017 _________________________ LIFETIMES: Master quilter made her mark, one stitch at a time Carolyn Zister of Kitchener, born: Oct. 21, 1936 in Kitchener, died: Dec. 15, 2017 of cancer They were known as "Thelma and Louise," Marlene Good and Carolyn Zister, great friends who travelled together, usually heading to a quilting event which meant their adventures were considerably less dangerous than driving off a cliff as depicted in the ultimate of road trip movies. Quilting tame? Yes but there was always the element of excitement when they hit the roads less travelled. "We just took off," said Marlene who is mourning the loss of her friend and fellow master quilter. She recalled once driving past a rickety wooden shed at the edge of a remote road in New York state, where the vendors were selling fabric for a buck a yard. "We backed up," she said, remembering the bolts of colourful fabric the two friends loaded into their vehicle that day. One of their favourite destinations was the annual QuiltWeek festival in Paducah, Ky., a veritable Mecca for fibre artists. Once word got out that these two were familiar with the event, they were asked to lead a bus tour. It was the one and only time. "It was fun but we knew nothing about what we were doing (leading a tour)," admitted Marlene. Marlene met Carolyn in the early 1990s when both were getting a taste for this quilting hobby and had joined a class to learn techniques. They hit it off and started a Pfaff Club, named for a specific type of sewing machine. "It's still going," said Marlene..... Carolyn was born in Kitchener the only child of Lottie and Carl Rooke. Her dad managed Summer Gardens, a concert and dance hall at Charles and Queen streets and a centre of entertainment for decades. Carolyn once told the Record "I often watched the wrestlers playing cards with one another upstairs before going down to the 'ring' to pummel one another." Carolyn graduated from St. Mary's High School and soon after began working as an assistant in a law office. She had met Harold (Hal) Zister at a high school dance and the two married in 1955. Carolyn quit her job and became a stay-at-home mom to the couple's only child. "She never went back to work," said daughter, Lynn Lubczuk. Hal worked as a controller at a communications company where he stayed until retiring in the mid-1980s but as a sideline, the couple purchased and ran Brown's Sports, a sporting goods store in Waterloo. They sold the store in 1980 and once free of daily responsibilities, they travelled to the world's most exotic locations: Thailand, Egypt, Israel, Bali.... As a quilter her list of accomplishments was impressive. Carolyn consistently won major prizes competing with quilters from across the country at national shows. In 1999 she was the featured artist at the St. Jacobs Schoolhouse exhibit for the Waterloo County & Area Quilt Festival. Her quilts had been featured in the American magazine, "Traditional Quilting" and she co-ordinated a quilt project for the Grand River Regional Cancer Centre for the radiation treatment rooms which featured the work of 60 quilters from the Waterloo guild..... Those quilts brought in considerable sums at fundraising auctions and for her generosity, in 2009 Carolyn was awarded Rotary's highest honour, the Paul Harris Fellowship. Hal, who remains living in the couple's Kitchener home, twice received the fellowship..... Hill, V. (2018). LIFETIMES: Master quilter made her mark, one stitch at a time. TheRecord.com. Retrieved 22 January 2018, from https://www.therecord.com/news-story/8084595-lifetimes-master-quilter-made-her-mark-one-stitch-at-a-time/

  
  

• Event Map

  Born - 21 Oct 1936 - Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Business - Brown's Sports - - Waterloo City, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Died - 15 Dec 2017 - Cambridge, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  = Link to Google Earth