Carole Clark LaValle Foland

Carole was born on April 11, 1936, in Chicago, Illinois, daughter to Thomas Edward Clark and Margarite Durocher Clark. Carole passed away on February 3, 2022 at the age of 85 years, in Sarasota, Florida with her loving Daughter Gigi and Husband Richard by her side.

She is survived by her husband of 53 years, Richard LaValle Foland.

She had 3 children, Gigi LaValle Foland, Donna Foland, Gene Foland and her stepdaughter, Maria Jones. She was blessed with four grandchildren, Christopher Giersz, Ashley Quintano, Carolyn Sage Lupi, and Valery Foland, and two great-grandchildren, Kayla and Clark Quintano.

Preceding her in passing was her youngest sister Barbara Shirley Williams (1945 – 1987). Sadly, 37 days after Carole passed, her sister Jackie Lee (Joyce) Musser (1938-2022) passed away too. Her numerous extended family spans the US and joins us in person and in prayer in mourning her passing.

Carole had a very long and fulfilling career with Fred Astaire Dance Studios and was honored to have garnered the title of US Mambo Champion as only one of her numerous titles and accomplishments. In 1974 Richard and Carole were personally asked by John Monte to relocate to South Florida in order to act as an integral part of the Fred Astaire Corporation. This decision lead her two sisters and Mother to also purchase homes in the same neighborhood which reunited the “Clark Girls.”

Not only was she a gifted dancer but her customer service skills were unsurpassed, and her ambitious drive always pushed her to far exceed any expectation. Her many talents took her on to other positions as a stockbroker with Greystone Nash, Center Manager and Aerobics Instructor for Richard Simmons’ Anatomy Asylum, as well as Top Manager in the USA for Jenny Craig for the majority of her 20-year career with the company.

Carole was loved and admired by all who knew her as an innovator and an adoring Mother whose “naughty” sense of humor never failed to shock some but always brought the house down laughing at her deadpan delivery.

Carole will be dearly missed by all those whose lives she touched. As she graced this world with her fire and spirit, we hope her light will forever dance in the heavens as she watches over her family.