Carolyn (Wharton) SAUL

SAUL, WHARTON, STEVENS, BAKER, VOLANAKIS, TEMPLETON, EMERY, HANSEN

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 5/4/2015 at 13:41:18

December 28, 1923 --- April 29, 2015

MOUNTAIN HOME, Ark. -- Carolyn Saul, a longtime resident of Mountain Home, Arkansas, went to meet her Savior on Wednesday, April 29, 2015, at the age of 91. Memorial services will be held Sunday, May 3, 2015, at 12:30 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church, Mountain Home, officiated by the Rev. Nancy Taylor, with a luncheon preceding at 11:30 a.m. Committal is planned for a later date at Lincoln Township Cemetery, Clear Lake, Iowa.

Carolyn was preceded in death by her husband Ernest L. Saul, her parents Richard and Flossie Belle Wharton, her sisters Kathleen and Carol, and her brother Richard. She is survived by her three daughters -- Linda (Paul) Stevens of Lenexa, Kansas; Nancy (Gene) Baker of Clear Lake, Iowa, and Cindy Saul of Mountain Home; six grandchildren -- Jenny (Andy) Volanakis of New Canaan, Connecticut; Molly (Travis) Templeton of Olathe, Kansas; Josh (Charity) Baker of Rockwell, Iowa; Emily (Jesse) Emery of Brooklyn, New York; Julia (Jacob) Hansen of Denver, Colorado, and Jon Stevens of Kansas City, Missouri; and seven great-grandchildren -- Max and Teddy Volanakis of New Canaan, Sophie and Brennan Templeton of Olathe; Andrew and Lily Baker of Rockwell, and Eloise Hansen of Denver.

In lieu of flowers, and in memory of the deceased, contributions can be made to the Memorial Fund of First Presbyterian Church, 1106 Spring Street, Mountain Home, AR 72653.

Carolyn Wharton was born Dec. 28, 1923, at the family home in Lost Springs, Kansas, delivered 15 minutes ahead of her twin sister Carol. They were the youngest of four children. The family moved to Chase, Kansas, where Carolyn and Carol graduated from Chase High School and where they met their future husbands. Early in her freshman year, when she was 13, Carolyn met Ernie “Doc” Saul on a blind date and went roller skating with her sister Carol and Glen Revel. She said it was "probably the first time I had been on skates but my date was very patient. The next night, the same foursome went roller-skating in Great Bend, Kansas. For some reason, and I don’t know why, I told Doc not to come back. We didn’t speak to each other until late spring, even though I had to pass him every day at his locker on my way to science class. The ice finally broke, and for a third time, he asked me to go roller skating. It was the middle of the week and Daddy said no. But after much begging, he let me go. That was the beginning of a long romance."

Ernie Saul served as an Army artillery officer during World War II. He returned home in October 1945 and they were married Nov. 6, 1945, in the chapel on the Great Bend Air Base in Great Bend, Kansas. The newlyweds moved to Ellinwood, Kansas, where Ernie took a job as a pumper with Atlantic Oil Company. They later lived in several small Kansas towns before Ernie developed an interest in watch-making and attended the Denver School of Horology to become a watchmaker. After he graduated, they purchased a jewelry store in Phillipsburg, Kansas. Carolyn and their daughters moved to Lost Springs when Ernie was recalled to Army service during the Korean War in 1951.

Upon his return from Korea, the family moved to Salina, Kansas, where Ernie took a watchmaker’s job and they lived there three years before moving to Haysville, Kansas, when he joined the Boeing Company in Wichita. They later lived in Park City, Junction City and Atchison, Kansas, then Council Bluffs and Sioux City, Iowa, before purchasing a jewelry store in Clarion, Iowa, where they lived for 10 years. Carolyn worked for Gulf Oil in Chase, the Chamber of Commerce in Council Bluffs, Hagie Manufacturing in Clarion and five nursing homes in Mountain Home. Carolyn and Ernie moved to Salesville, Arkansas, in March 1974. When Ernie died on Dec. 28, 1989, she moved into Mountain Home.

Carolyn was a member of First Presbyterian Church of Mountain Home where she worked as a volunteer for many years. She also was a volunteer at Baxter Regional Medical Center. She was an avid card player, especially bridge; she was a member of several bridge groups and her beloved Saturday Morning Breakfast Club. The family wishes to thank the staff at Baxter Regional Medical Center, Hiram Shaddox Geriatric Center and the Hospice of the Ozarks for their loving care of our mother. Arrangements are by Conner-Hankins Funeral Home and Cremation Center, Mountain Home, Arkansas.

Mason City Globe Gazette - Iowa
April 30, 2015