Carolyn S. Westbrook, 82, died peacefully at her home in Greenville, Delaware on April 26, 2024. Born Carolyn Soffar on August 19, 1941 in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, Carolyn spent her early years in Arkansas and Texas. She was an elite student with a voracious appetite for learning and reading. In 1959, she became the first member of her family to attend college when she enrolled at the University of Texas-Austin. She graduated in 1963 and would later earn a master's degree in education from Florida State University in Tallahassee.

Carolyn married Coke Westbrook on Valentine's Day 1964. The couple settled in Houston and welcomed their only child, Ellen. Coke's work took the family around the globe. They lived in Alice Springs, Australia; London, England; and Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. Following her lifelong passion for education, Carolyn became a teacher and spent the next thirty years devoted to teaching language arts and history to hundreds of students around the world. Carolyn and Coke retired to Newark, Delaware in 1994 to be close to their daughter and grandchildren. Over the next thirty years, she took advantage of all retirement had to offer, continuing to travel around the world with her sister-in law, Kathy Lauten. Carolyn loved watching her beloved Texas Longhorns and Atlanta Braves, gardening (growing the best blueberries and tomatoes), and participating in local bridge games. Consistent with her love of education, Carolyn attended classes at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Delaware for nearly two decades. Most of all, however, Carolyn loved being a grandparent. She was a constant presence in her grandsons' lives, never missing a school concert, soccer game or important milestone. Carolyn was predeceased by her husband of 57 years, Coke Westbrook, in 2021. Survivors include daughter Ellen Slights (Joseph); grandsons Michael Slights and John Slights; sister-in-law Kathleen Lauten; nieces Hunter Lauten and Brooke Lauten; nephew Tatum Lauten; and countless friends and relatives. The burial was private. In lieu of flowers, the family requests contributions be made in Carolyn's name to the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at https://www.olli.udel.edu/gifts/.