{"id":537600,"date":"2026-03-21T23:56:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-21T23:56:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/537600\/"},"modified":"2026-03-21T23:56:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-21T23:56:12","slug":"retired-santa-rosa-teacher-diagnosed-with-rare-fatal-neurodegenerative-disease","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/537600\/","title":{"rendered":"Retired Santa Rosa teacher diagnosed with rare, fatal neurodegenerative disease"},"content":{"rendered":"

Carol Kovatch, a beloved Spanish teacher for nearly two decades at Rincon Valley Middle School in Santa Rosa, has been diagnosed with sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a rare and fatal neurodegenerative disease.<\/p>\n

Kovatch\u2019s family said she was diagnosed with the illness about a week ago, after enduring a monthslong odyssey of multiple lab tests, screenings and scans.<\/p>\n

The news has been a devastating blow to family, friends and colleagues who know Kovatch for her warmth, infectious energy, kindness and love. Many who took her class over the years still call her, \u201cSe\u00f1ora Kovatch.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShe loved people and every person that she met along the way loved her \u2014 nobody was ever a stranger to Carol,\u201d said Cindy Kingsborough, a longtime friend who has known Kovatch for more than four decades. \u201cThe first minute that you met Carol you just, you just saw her heart.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kovatch, 64, retired from teaching about five years ago, but has kept herself busy, traveling with her husband of 36 years, Mike, in their RV, hiking with friends and playing lots of pickleball.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy mom is super energetic,\u201d said Kovatch\u2019s son, Riley. \u201cMy dad gets annoyed because every time they go into a store if she knows a bunch of people she h as to talk to everybody, and she knows a lot of parents from the school, she knows a lot of the kids, a few generations of kids from school.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Carol<\/p>\n

Carol Kovatch, second from left, and her husband Mike, far right, with their children, from left, Riley, Keaton, and Victoria Norbe. (Family photo)<\/p>\n

\"Carol<\/p>\n

Carol Kovatch with her husband Mike and son Riley at the Taj Mahal in India. (Family photo)<\/p>\n

\"Carol<\/p>\n

Carol Kovatch with her grandson, Cruze. (Family photo)<\/p>\n

\"Carol<\/p>\n

Carol Kovatch on the pickleball court with her son Keaton Kovatch and his wife Stacey.<\/p>\n

\"Carol<\/p>\n

Carol Kovatch and her family at her daughter Victoria Norbe’s wedding. (Family photo)<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 5<\/p>\n

Carol Kovatch, second from left, and her husband Mike, far right, with their children, from left, Riley, Keaton, and Victoria Norbe. (Family photo)<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a><\/p>\n

A few months ago, something began sapping that energy.<\/p>\n

Riley, who lives in Florida, said in December his parents traveled to Chile, where his wife, Alexandra, is from. The trip was an opportunity for the two families to get together and visit with Riley and Alexandra\u2019s new baby girl, Chloe.<\/p>\n

After that trip, Carol and Mike set out in their RV with friends for the New Year\u2019s holiday. It was after that trip that Carol started having severe insomnia, said Riley. Then her heart and blood pressure started spiking when she was just sitting still, making her feel nauseous and woozy, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy dad kept taking her to the ER, just because they were scared,\u201d Riley said. \u201cIt seemed like it came out of nowhere. They went to the ER probably 15 different times over the course of the last three months.\u201d<\/p>\n

Riley said the doctor at Kaiser Permanente Santa Rosa Medical Center started \u201cthrowing different types of meds at her\u201d and conducted a battery of diagnostic tests, but nothing really helped or yielded a definitive answer to what was ailing her.<\/p>\n

Then, last week, after another trip to the hospital, she was given a brain MRI.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen the doctor came back and said, \u2018You have something called Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease,\u201d Riley said. \u201cIt\u2019s a brain infection. It\u2019s a prion problem. You got three to six months.\u201d<\/p>\n

Riley said family and friends have been grappling with the news ever since.<\/p>\n

Sporadic CJD<\/p>\n

There are three types of Cruetzfeldt-Jakob Disease. The most common, sporadic CJD, the diagnosis for Kovatch, accounts for 85% of CJD cases, according to the Cruetzfeldt-Jakob Disease Foundation. Its cause is unknown and it affects mainly people over the age of 60.<\/p>\n

Common symptoms include insomnia, rapid onset of dementia, ataxia (loss of coordination) and involuntary muscle spasms. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the various types of CJD occur globally with an estimated incidence of about 1 to 2 cases per 1 million people. The CDC says the disease progresses rapidly and is always fatal.<\/p>\n

CJD and related conditions are believed to be linked to changes with prion proteins, found in high concentrations in the brain and nerve cells. The disease causes \u201cabnormal folding\u201d of proteins in the brain, which quickly spreads and affects processes in the body, according to the CDC.<\/p>\n

Riley said his mother can still walk and at times talk, but her sleeping has been severely disrupted, and she\u2019s been unable to get REM sleep, essential for brain health.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo basically my mom hasn\u2019t really slept since January,\u201d he said, adding that even though she\u2019s now being given medications for rest and to comfort her, she\u2019s not getting the type of sleep that\u2019s key to mental and emotional health.<\/p>\n

Kovatch\u2019s family spent the week setting up hospice services for her.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe hospice people have been helpful,\u201d Riley said. \u201cPart of it is we\u2019re all scared and we\u2019re still learning\u2026basically, they\u2019re just telling us you got to try to keep her comfortable. That\u2019s what hospice is about.\u201d<\/p>\n

These days, Riley said, his mother \u201cis pretty wiped out and there aren\u2019t that many windows where you really think it\u2019s her.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was one (window) yesterday,\u201d he said, his voice breaking. \u201cAnd that was the first time I heard her say\u2026this isn\u2019t fair\u2026I don\u2019t want this to happen to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kovatch\u2019s illness has deeply saddened many who knew her.<\/p>\n

Amy Sather, a retired assistant principal at Rincon Valley Middle School, said she saw Kovatch in late February, after Kovatch called her and asked if she would go to lunch.<\/p>\n

Sather said at that time, Kovatch was having terrible insomnia and heart issues and was losing weight. She said toward the end of lunch, Kovatach stood up and said, \u201cI\u2019ve got to go home.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sather, whose family is very close to the Kovatch family, said the hardest part is not knowing what to do to help. She encouraged the local community to give to a GoFundMe<\/a> that\u2019s been set up by the family to help cover the cost of 24-hour hospice and medical care Kovatch now requires.<\/p>\n

Sather said Kovatch was no ordinary teacher and she touched the lives of many in her classroom.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe changed lives, made connections, and was always loved by her students and staff,\u201d Sather said in an email. \u201cShe was always involved in committees and supporting students, a very active teacher.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sather said even after she retired, she\u2019s kept in touch with some of her students and continued to support them. She\u2019s even attended some of their weddings, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was THAT teacher, the one that everyone went to,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Sonoma County native<\/p>\n

Carol Dawn Garcia was born in Healdsburg and went to Healdsburg High School. She graduated from Chico State and then came back to Sonoma County. A few years later, she married her husband, Mike Kovatch, when both were about 27 years old, Riley said.<\/p>\n

The couple eventually bought a home in Santa Rosa\u2019s Coffey Park neighborhood in 1989. They lived in the same house until it was destroyed in the 2017 Tubbs Fire. They\u2019ve since rebuilt in the same location.<\/p>\n

Kingsborough, Carol\u2019s close friend, is sentimental when she thinks about the many years their families spent together. When the Kovatchs\u2019 home burned down, the Kingsboroughs had them stay in a rental home they owned.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot many people are blessed with the friendship that I\u2019ve had with Carol Kovatch,\u201d Kingsborough said. \u201cI\u2019m one of the very lucky ones.\u201d<\/p>\n

Oldest son Keaton Kovatch describes his mother as selfless, courageous, protective and determined \u2014 \u201cEvery good quality that you could want in a mom,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Keaton, who lives in Santa Rosa, said his family is trying to make the most of the time they have left with her.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s spending her last moments surrounded by loved ones,\u201d Keaton said. \u201cAnd she will be as comfortable as she can be in her last days.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to their sons, Riley and Keaton, the couple has a daughter, Victoria Norbe, and three grandchildren.<\/p>\n

You can reach Staff Writer Martin Espinoza at 707-521-5213 or martin.espinoza@pressdemocrat.com.<\/p>\n

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