Carol Geline Keesling-Gehlsen, loving mother of four children, later a stepson and adoring wife of EmRoy Gehlsen, passed away in the evening hours of the 11th of April after a long and courageous battle with dementia. Carol was born in 1933 in Fredonia, Kansas on Christmas Eve as the clock struck midnight. Carol’s parents had the option of selecting the date of her birthday and selected Christmas Eve as her oldest sister was born on Christmas Eve. Carol often told the story that her parents, on Christmas morning placed the newborn baby under the Christmas tree asking her five older siblings to give her a name. The brothers and sisters had read Charles Dickens’ story of a Christmas Carol, suggesting that they name her Carol. She relished the story and told all new acquaintances the story and that she was a “Christmas Carol”. Carol graduated from McKinley Tech High School in 1952 and then from the Washington School for Secretaries in Washington, DC. Early in her life she determined that she wanted to be the mother of a large family and cherished her children. She was always the strength of her family, was quick to intercede, lending support and guidance on the behalf of her children. Later as the grandbaby’s arrived and they grew up she would teasingly administer her version of grandchild silly spankings. She would ask the offending grandchild to lay on her lap and then she would lightly touch the grandchild’s bottom and say a little loudly “Whacka, Whacka.” The other grandchildren, jealous of the attention their cousins or siblings may be receiving, would line up for their Wackas too. As a mother and grandmother, she was very proud of her family and the success they enjoy in life. After her children were able to attend to themselves, she rejoined the workforce, employing her skills as a Secretary and Office Administrator. She was a secretary at the Commission on Accreditation for Corrections helping to raise the bar of excellence in prisons and juvenile corrections facilities in Montgomery County Maryland. While working there, Carol was approached by a employment recruiter to be the Executive Assistant to the President of Denro an aviation avionics manufacturing corporation in Gaithersburg Maryland. Retiring in 1998 she turned her attention to gardening, working on the farm, and traveling in the family’s recreation vehicle. We know that we can’t have you but we’re happy to know that you are in the company of angels. Goodbye to a wonderful woman and a person with outstanding mother instincts.
Carol is survived by her husband, two sons, one stepson, two daughters, ten grandchildren, seventeen great grandchildren and a sister.
Services will be held at Stonebriar Funeral Home, 10375 Preston Road, Frisco, TX 75033 on Saturday, April 27, 2024 receiving guests at 10:45 a.m. with service starting at 11 am.
Please join us and celebrate our sweet Carol by wearing bright colored clothing to honor her happy and positive personality.
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