Karoline Helen Kilb
Karoline Helen (née Corbett) Kilb died on Jan. 26, 2020, surrounded by her family at San Simeon by the Sound in Greenport. She was 97 years old.
Karoline was born on Jan. 31, 1922, in the Bronx to Lydia (née Schuetz) and Lew Arnold Corbett. She attended PS 53 and 90 and graduated from Walton High School in January 1940. She went on to attend Eastman Business College in New York City and worked as a bookkeeper after college. She was engaged to Alfred John Kilb Sr. on April 23, 1941, and they were married on Feb. 20, 1942, in North Augusta, S.C., as Alfred was assigned to Georgia Aero Tech, which was associated with the United States Army’s pilot training and equipment overhaul in Augusta, Ga.
After the war, Karoline and Alfred returned to New York, where the family settled in the Bronx and later Mount Vernon. She was a dedicated mother and homemaker to her three children, and as she liked to joke, she worked “the corner,” as a New York City crossing guard.
Karoline began coming to Shelter Island in 1934, when she and her family stayed at the Manhanset House and Card’s Cabins (White Birch Cabins). In 1946, her father built the family home on Congdon Road, which later became her and her husband’s summer home, which developed into a true love for the Island and its lifestyle.
After Alfred retired in 1980, they moved full-time to their beloved Island home, where Karoline was an active member of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church and the Shelter Island Senior Citizens Association. She devoted her life to her family and community. She surrounded herself with her family and never missed a ceremony or event in which her children or grandchildren were involved. She loved family holidays and beach days, playing cards, traveling and attending Long Island Beekeepers’ Club and Long Island Early Flyers meetings with her husband. She was a dedicated volunteer to the seniors’ nutrition program, Dinner Bell, where she greeted diners at the front desk for over 25 years. She was also a weekly caller for the Seniors’ Telephone Reassurance program and a loyal visitor to seniors in the hospitals and nursing homes and the homebound.
Karoline was predeceased by her husband Alfred Kilb Sr. and brother Lew Arnold Corbett Jr. She is survived by her three children and their spouses: Diane and Alfred Kilb Jr.; Lew and Donna Kilb; and Barbara and Walter Brigham II, all of Shelter Island. She is also survived by her three nephews: Lew III, Wayne and Brian Corbett; her grandchildren: Rebecca Mundy; Sharon Gibbs; Karen, Theresa Lydia, Jonathan and Nicholas Kilb; and Walter, Alfred and Harry Brigham, as well as 15 great-grandchildren and four great-great grandchildren.
The family will receive visitors on Wednesday, Jan. 29th from 4 to 7 p.m. and Thursday, Jan. 30 from 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. at the Shelter Island Funeral Home on West Neck Road. The funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 31 at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church with interment at St. Mary’s Cemetery.
The family requests donations be made to St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, P.O. Box 1660; Shelter Island Senior Nutrition Program, P.O. Box 1549; or Senior Citizens Foundation of Shelter Island, P.O. Box 352, all in Shelter Island, NY 11964.
