Louise Carbone Colombatto
Louise Carbone Colombatto, daughter of pioneering Berkeley nurseryman and orchid grower John Carbone, Sr., died peacefully at age 88 at her home in Berkeley, CA, on May 11, 2017, with members of her family nearby.
Born in Berkeley in 1929 to Italian immigrant parents, John Anthony Carbone (1865–1946) and Francesca Bertuzzo (1898–1957), Louise grew up on the grounds of nurseries established by her father, developing a lifelong interest in floriculture. On the day of her birth, her father purchased land for a new nursery with room for several acres of greenhouses on Woodmont Avenue in the Berkeley Hills, overlooking Wildcat Canyon. During her youth, it grew into the largest orchid nursery on the West Coast and the source of many award-winning hybrids— earning her father international recognition as Orchid King of the West. After her father’s death and the retirement of her half-brother, John Carbone, Jr., from the family business in 1959, Louise took an active role in managing the business for the next decade.
As a child, Louise was among the first to attend Berkeley’s then new School of the Madeleine, a Catholic elementary school founded by the Dominican Sisters of Mission San Jose, graduating in 1943. She then attended Dominican High School in San Rafael, graduating in 1947, after developing friendships and connections she valued and maintained over the years. In 2007, San Domenico honored her with its Distinguished Alumna Award.
She met her beloved husband, Paul Colombatto, a returning World War II Marine Corps veteran, while both were attending UC Berkeley. They married in 1948, built a home in Berkeley where they raised four children, traveled the world together, and founded and ran a successful real estate development company.
Paul preceded Louise in death in 1979, as did her son, Mathew, in 2003. She is survived by her children Jay, Rich (Lyn), and Elaine (Jim); grandchildren Nicholas, Gina, and Jesse; great granddaughter Mia Luisa; and a number of nieces, nephews, and cousins.
Louise was deeply devoted to her children and extended family, her many friends, her community, and her church. She treasured and celebrated her Italian heritage. And she remained active until late in life, enthusiastically supporting the numerous causes she cared about through tireless advocacy, volunteerism, and fundraising, as well as personal philanthropy. But she will be remembered most for her zest for life and for her conviviality, conversation, generosity, love, and laughter.
A memorial mass will be held at her lifelong parish church, St. Mary Magdalen, 2005 Berryman Street in Berkeley, on Saturday, June 3, at 10 a.m. The service will be followed by a reception for friends and family in the parish’s Norton Hall. Interment will be private.
Donations may be made in her memory to the Louise Carbone Colombatto Spring Discovery Fund, San Domenico School, 1500 Butterfield Rd., San Anselmo, CA 94960.