Karl O. Ehlers (1928-2017)

EHLERS, DINSTEL

Posted By: Ken Wright (email)
Date: 5/23/2021 at 17:43:30

Obituary for Karl O. Ehlers
Karl O. Ehlers, 89, of Darien, Illinois formerly of Camanche, passed away on November 30, 2017 at home with family and his beloved beagle by his side.

Visitation and Funeral Services will be held at the Camanche Chapel of the Snell-Zornig Funeral Homes and Crematory. Visitation will be from 4:00 pm to 6:45 on December 8, 2017, with a time for remembrance at 6:45, and a Rose Croix service at 7:00 pm. Public funeral services will be held at 10:00 am on December 9, 2017, followed by a burial in Rose Hill Cemetery. Serving as pallbearers will be Karl D. Ehlers, Eric O. Ehlers, Eric K. Ehlers, Betsy Gates-Ehlers, Dirk Ehlers, Dmitriy Ehlers, Gregory Smith and Jordan Smith.

Karl Otto Ehlers was born October 5, 1928 in Eiderstedt, Germany, the son of Detlef and Wiebke (Hagge) Ehlers. At age 16 he was drafted into the German Army, and served from 1943 until 1945, when he was wounded and then held as a prisoner of war in an American camp in France. After the war he attended college in Germany where he received a degree in Agriculture. He moved to the United States in 1953 to work on a farm near Clinton Iowa, where he met his wife, Elke Dinstel, at a German picnic. They were married on April 7, 1956.

Karl began work as a chemist at Clinton Corn Processing, later to become an Archer Daniels Midland facility, in 1956, where he became Superintendent of Sugars, until his retirement in 1994. As a member of the Western Star Masonic Lodge #100, Karl was a 32nd Degree Mason. He served as a Boy Scout Master for Troop 122, where each of his three sons became Eagle Scouts. Karl also served as a member of the City of Camanche Planning and Zoning Board, and as a member of Board of Trustees and recording secretary for the First Baptist Church of Camanche.

Karl is survived by his wife Elke of Darien, Illinois, their five children: Karen (Gregory) Smith of Spartanburg, South Carolina, Karl (Tjodie) Ehlers of Urbandale, Iowa, Eric (Mary) Ehlers of Holt, Michigan, Dirk (Karen) Ehlers of Darien, Illinois and Andrea (Betsy) Gates-Ehlers of Palatine, Illinois; 13 grandchildren and four great grandchildren.

Karl was a devoted husband of Elke for an amazing 61 years of marriage, and always remained true to their promise to “never go to sleep angry.” He was a loving father and grandfather – Opa – who always loved to share a laugh with a twinkle in his bright blue eyes. He was preceded in death by his parents, two brothers and one sister.

Memorials may be made to the Ehlers family for a charity to be determined.