Sharon Korbel dies; wife of News 12 weatherman Bill Korbel was 70

Sharon Korbel, who relatives described as a sweet woman who would do anything for anyone and loved an old-fashioned garage sale, has died. She was 70.

The wife of longtime News 12 Long Island chief meteorologist Bill Korbel suffered a cerebral hemorrhage while on vacation and died Wednesday, family said.

“It came as a huge shock. I feel like half of me is gone,” Korbel said of his wife of 45 years. “We could read each other’s mind and finish each other’s sentences.”

Relatives said the Merrick resident was a beloved member of the News 12 family and a frequent visitor to the studio who attended the station’s public events.

Korbel said a friend from his Air Force days introduced him to her.

“I met Sharon through her brother, Norm. We were stationed together for a short time in the Air Force and several years later he happened to hear me on WCBS Radio,” he said. “We got together and he mentioned he had a sister I might like to meet. He showed me a picture and I was hooked. We got married on Long Island one year later.”

Born in Brooklyn, Sharon Mitchell graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School in 1965, family said.

While primarily a homemaker, at different times she was employed as a department store buyer, bank teller and pharmacy worker.

A trained beautician, she also sold Avon products for many years, family said.

“Most of all, she helped make me who I am, from picking out suits and ties to gently offering advice and occasionally criticism of my on-air work,” her husband said. “She even cut my hair. It is safe to say that I would never have become as successful as I am without her love and guidance.”

She enjoyed traveling and once, on a rock and roll cruise, she met and watched some of her favorite singers — Frankie Avalon, Bobby Rydell and Dion.

Sunday mornings were spent with a close friend doing the Newsday crossword puzzle and having breakfast, family said.

“If someone in the family was sick or needed help she would hop on a plane to be with them. If someone needed a favor, even people she didn’t know, well she would never turn them down,” Bill Korbel said.

“I never knew her to refuse a favor from anyone,” said Glenn Korbel, her brother-in-law of East Meadow. She loved garage sales and would sometimes collect clothes, baseball cards or famous autographed paraphernalia, he said.

Relatives said she would eventually be buried at Calverton National Cemetery.

“The term soul mate is thrown around a lot but she definitely was mine,” Korbel said.

In addition to her husband, survivors include daughter Lisa Jean Tobinsky of Canyon Country, California, and two grandchildren.