Simone Joye Zamore-Curbelo ’99

Simone Joye Zamore-Curbelo ’99

Simone passed away suddenly on Jan. 4, 2024, from a ruptured brain aneurysm.

Born December 26, 1977 in New York City, Simone spent her early days in Edison, New Jersey, where she first formed her love of music and dance. Simone began her energetic and spirited passion for performance in Franklin Township (Somerset), New Jersey, where she acted and sang in numerous school plays and choirs. At home, Simone enjoyed entertaining visitors by putting on impromptu plays with her two younger siblings. Simone excelled in all things she approached. At Franklin High School, Simone won the All-State tennis doubles championship, and was also a NJ All-State vocal soloist. She then received a scholarship to Princeton University, where she majored in English with a focus on Theater. At Princeton, Simone performed in plays, was a member of the Triangle Theatre Company and completed an AtelÍer with Pulitzer Prize and Nobel Prize Laureate Toni Morrison.

Simone enjoyed singing, dancing, laughing and sharing her talents with others, as witnessed in her numerous performances. She moved to Queens, New York to pursue stage performance, joining the Actor’s Equity Association, performing in off-Broadway plays and shows. She also worked at Kaplan, Inc., where she began creating training materials and tutoring students, which she continued for over 20 years. She merged her love of teaching with the love for the stage with Prospect Theater Company, eventually becoming the Director of Education.

Of all her achievements, Simone’s greatest joy was being Mom to her son Cobain, born January 2016. Through his early childhood years, Simone had been an active volunteer in the school community and the PTA, participating in many school events. Throughout all of Astoria, Queens, where she lived for her last 20 years, Simone’s face and laugh became widely known. Simone had a generous heart and was quick to support others. In 2021, Simone joined Hope Church NYC, where she sang with the worship team, and taught Sunday school. Simone’s love for the church and God brought her fulfillment in life, saying it was the culmination of her singing career.

A fixture at our class reunions, and always in a show-stopping costume, she performed fittingly as “Peach and Black” on our award-winning 20th Reunions “Party Like It’s 1999” float and also served on the Float Committee for our 25th. She was inducted posthumously at our class dinner into the Society of the Claw.

After dating for 10 years, Simone married her husband, Rodrigo Curbelo on July 16, 2010, in Antigua, West Indies. Shortly after,she  earned her Masters in Arts Education from Harvard University School of Education.

Simone is survived and mourned by her son, Cobain, husband, Rodrigo Curbelo, siblings, Kherry Zamore and Shaz Zamore, parents, Pattie Zamore and McFord Zamore, and a large, loving community of family and friends.