Carol EhlingAbbyville, KS

Carol Lavon Ehling, 98, of Abbyville, died Wednesday, April 8, 2026, at Hospice House, Hutchinson. She was born on November 13, 1927, in Roanoke, Illinois, to Rudy Clay Bachman and Beulah June Wagner.

Carol graduated as an Honor Student in May 1945 from Roanoke High School. Following graduation, she tasseled corn and then took a job in a canning factory before becoming a bookkeeper at the Eureka Hatchery in Eureka, Illinois in August of 1946. It was here that she met her future husband, Gordon, who had come to Eureka to visit his brother, Gerald, who was also working at the hatchery. After a three-year long-distance courtship, she married Gordon L. Ehling on October 14, 1950. Their marriage lasted almost 70 years until Gordon’s death in 2020.

After their honeymoon in Chicago, she moved to Abbyville, Kansas, to the Ehling family farm where she lived until 2021. In 2021, she moved to Legend Senior Living Community Hutchinson, Kansas, where she was a beloved and active resident. She loved to read Christian Romance novels, arrange flowers for the dining room, play bingo, complete jigsaw puzzles, exercise daily and being self-sufficient, not wanting to be an imposition on anyone.

Carol was no stranger to the hard work of farm life as she had grown up on a farm. She set about doing what had to be done with a midwestern stoicism that simply met life’s challenges as they presented themselves. Making a home, butchering chickens, planting a garden, canning vegetables, driving a tractor or wheat truck, doing laundry and hanging clothes out to dry, and cooking just enough for who she was feeding.

Carol gave birth to four children, Doyle, Michael, Joni, and Kris, raising them with her quiet strength based in deep faith. She joined the Abbyville Christian Church and later the Abbyville Community Church. Carol was a long-time treasurer for the local Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU). When her children were teenagers she sought employment as a seamstress with Eula’s Draperies in Arlington, Kansas, where she specialized in constructing Austrian and Roman shades.

Carol was the quiet, competent strength behind the scenes in the family and community. She baked pies for church dinners and the annual Abbyville Rodeo. Carol joined other women in Club where they enjoyed handwork and quilting. Increasingly frugal throughout her life, she made clothes for her children, especially her daughter, which always fit perfectly. Carol recycled fabrics for quilts and strips of sheets to tie boxes shut. And no matter how much Gordon suggested it, she rarely spent money on clothes for herself.

Never one to seek the spotlight, Carol enjoyed supporting Gordon and her children as they took on more public roles.  Occasionally, she would tire of the tall tales that Gordon would repeatedly tell about her and her directness would then be on display, usually to the delight of her children and grandchildren and to the surprise of Gordon who had just been upstaged.

Carol taught her children about art and beauty. Her fascination with all things tiny showed them the value in paying attention to the details and finding the beauty that was right in front of you rather than searching for the spectacular. She loved music and would play hymns on the pump organ or piano, classical music on the stereo, or sang along to hymns in a soft soprano. Her hands were always busy creating meals, clothing, embroidery, quilts, gardens, drapes, or hanging wallpaper.

Carol is survived by: her brother, Richard “Dick” and wife Elaine Bachman of Athens, Illinois; her children, Doyle Ehling and wife Bonnie of Hutchinson, Michael Ehling of Pittsburg, Joni Jessup and husband Jack of Camano Island, Washington, Kris Ehling and husband Bart Flickinger of Wichita; nine grandchildren, Valli Dawn Booe and husband Travis, Benjamin Ehling and wife Tara J., Kayla Kesinger and husband Joel, Micah Ehling and fiancé Ashley Vargas, Lucas Ehling and wife Kathryn, Jared Jessup and wife Vannessa, Holly Koster and husband Thaddeus, Abigail Jessup and fiancé Trevor Altman, and Isaac Flickinger; 21 great-grandchildren, Carter Booe and fiancé Morgan Steckley, Ayla Booe, Rhett, Ryen, Reygan, and Renna Ehling, Taylor and Tate Kesinger, Hunter and Olivia Ehling, Grady and Parker Vargas, Kadence, Alexis and Easton Burns, Brooks Gordon Ehling, Sammuel Vela and Natallia Jessup; Ursa and Thora Koster; and a host of nieces, nephews, great-nieces, and great-nephews.

She was preceded in death by: her husband; parents; and siblings, Norman “Hez” and wife LaVerna Bachman, Loren “Bud” and wife Shirley Bachman, all of Roanoke, Illinois.

Funeral service will be 10:30 a.m. Monday, April 13, 2026, at Abbyville Community Church, 201 W. Avenue G, Abbyville. Burial will follow in Abbyville Cemetery.

Friends may call from 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Friday and 9:00 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at Elliott Mortuary. The family will greet friends from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. Sunday at Abbyville Community Church.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Abbyville Community Church Community Chest, in care of Elliott Mortuary, 1219 N. Main, Hutchinson, KS  67501.