Celebrate the life of Carol Frances McDermott Zakes
(7/17/1928 - 6/21/2025)

Our dear Carol passed away on the first day of summer, just a few weeks short of her 97th birthday. We’re sure she was sorry to miss a party.

Carol rolled through the decades of her nearly century-long life with curiosity, bravery, style, and grace. She loved the movies. A good book. A game of cards (she’d win, every time). She loved a cold IPA. A black and white milkshake. Meyer lemons. Dim sum. Clams on the half shell. Buffalo in the summer. The city of San Francisco. Her adoring family. Her many, many friends.

Carol was born in Buffalo, N.Y. on July 17th, 1928. She was the youngest of four children and lived with her parents in the Village of Kenmore until she married Donald Zakes in 1953. Together, they raised two children, Carin and Gary.

After 56 years in Buffalo, Don was transferred to California. They moved to the Bay Area in the early 80s and began a new chapter on the Pacific Coast, coming back to Buffalo often to visit friends and relatives.

To honor Carol’s beautiful life and deep Buffalo roots, we’re placing a commemorative bench overlooking Hoyt Lake in Delaware Park. Delaware Park was one of Carol’s favorite places in the city. Both Carin and Gary remember playing there as children, going to the zoo, and watching the changing seasons.

This bench will serve as a quiet place for all to sit, remember, and feel close to nature.

In lieu of flowers, we welcome your contribution. The money will help sustain Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy for years to come.

About the Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy

The mission of the Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy is to steward Buffalo’s historic Olmsted park and parkway system to benefit and to welcome all. The Conservancy works towards this through collaboration with community and strategic partners, advocating for quality parks for all, and enhancing the park system through beautification, maintenance and capital projects.

Celebrating the Life of Carol Zakes

A campaign to support a memorial bench in Delaware Park