Carol Ann Guardino

April 11, 1941 - April 10, 2023

Carol was a San Francisco native and lived her entire life in her beloved city

Born April 11, 1941, Mt. Zion Hospital,

Passed April 10, 2023, The Ivy Golden Gate assisted living facility.

We grew up in San Francisco’s Mission district atop Bernal Heights with magnificent views of the city.

She attended Mission High School, graduated with honors.

She attended Horace Mann Jr. High and Le Conte Elementary schools.

We spent many summers at the Precita Valley Community Center in our neighborhood with field trips to Sutro’s and Playland at the Beach, the Zoo, GG Park, trips on the SP ferries and Key System trains to East Bay parks, etc. We loved the San Francisco of yesteryear.

Carol worked 29 years at San Francisco’s storied department store The Emporium, began as sales clerk, became executive secretary to the VP-Buyer for the entire chain of stores.

Her first job, while in high school, was as a weekend waitress at the historic St.

Francis Creamery @ 24th and York streets.

She met her future husband Tony while working at his Pace Variety Store @ Mission and Precita Avenue.

She enjoyed following the business world, fashion industry, stock market, and investing.

She liked interior decorating and spent 31 years intricately designing her colorful home with beautiful objects and collectibles from around the world.

She participated in local civic and social organizations such as:

The Commonwealth Club Fairmount Hotel Breakfast Club (luncheons and fashion shows)

Rotary International SFPD Neighborhood Watch organizing committee

She voted in every national and local election her entire adult life.

Carol traveled the world, mostly on cruise ships, with her life-long friend Barbara Scribner. We are from a family of Scandinavian seafarers so it was in her blood. Our father Gus, from Sweden, began at age 13 on sailing ships as a cabin boy and visited everywhere you can get to with a ship in his 50 year+ career. We were fascinated by his stories of exotic places and were inspired to visit many of them ourselves as adults. We are pleased to scatter Carol’s ashes on San Francisco Bay, as we did for Gus, so that some will remain here and some will travel by sea to many of those exotic places.

Our mother Naomi’s side of family were very successful Norwegian immigrant farmers who settled the land in North Dakota beginning in 1870 and are burred in the Pioneer Cemetery there. Carol obviously inherited their hardworking-attentionto-detail spirit which made her own life such a success.

Carol was the proud owner of a classic 1957 Corvette which her husband Tony purchased that year.

Her dear friend, Michael Lewin of San Francisco, shared her enjoyment of motoring in her Corvette and has lovingly taken care of the car for many years

She married into a successful San Francisco Italian family that operated several local businesses. She was hence adopted as an ‘honorary’ Italian.

She loved Italian restaurants in the city such as Original Joe’s, Marcello, Villa d’Este, Gold Mirror, Scoma’s, and San Francisco’s world famous historic restaurants Tommy’s Joynt and Boudin Bakery Café (home of sourdough bread from the Gold Rush days) .

She had a love of sports such as basketball and football and loyally followed the local teams. She took up golf after retiring.

She loved dogs and was a big contributor to the San Francisco SPCA. Carol had no children of her own, her dogs were her children! In addition to Dino and Mickey, she had a collection of over 100 Staffordshire and ceramic dogs as well as many paintings of dogs.

Carol was very outgoing, warm, generous, and made many friends wherever she went.

She loved cruises and Champaign (which added to her already sparkling personality) so much that some of her friends called her the Cruise Princess and Champaign Lady.

Carol was not religious at all and not affiliated with any church. Her religion was being a good responsible citizen and enjoying life to the utmost along with her impeccable taste and sartorial excellence.

Growing up in the Mission district our friends and neighbors were almost all

Irish or Italian Catholics. Even so, we as children spent much time at St. Anthony’s Church at Army and Folsom streets.

Brother Adrian, never asking if we were Catholics, gave us St. Christopher medals and, along with the other kids, allowed us to help him ring the church bells in the steeple every day at 6pm. One of the bells was huge, requiring three of us to pull the rope. We would then hold on tight and be lifted off the ground when the bell righted itself. We counted this transcendent experience as one of the greatest thrills we had as kids!

For whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee, indeed…

Carol is survived by her native San Franciscans Ken Erickson. brother Debbie Davidson, niece (now living in San Jose) Cora Lynne Blakemore, niece (now living in Los Angeles)

Robert Blakemore Jr., nephew

Phillip Blakemore, nephew, and numerous friends who will fondly remember her! Her husband Anthony Guardino passed in 1992. Our older sister Dorothy Blakemore passed in 2001. Please make donations in Carol’s memory to the San Francisco SPCA or American Cancer Society