Carolyn Joan Kachmann

“There is no problem you can’t overcome with faith and a positive mindset,” Carolyn often said.

Born in Whitestown, Indiana on November 20, 1937 to Kenneth and Mary Coulson, Carolyn grew up with her beloved younger sister Barbara in Elwood and Muncie, where she proudly attended Burris, a science and technology lab school under Ball State University.

Carolyn earned her college degree from Ball State and was one of only two female pre-med students in biology, attracting the attention of her first employer, Eli Lilly. Within just a few years at the company, she earned a promotion to direct a research lab—the first woman to do so in Lilly’s history at that time.

Carolyn met her future husband, Rudy Kachmann, on a blind date during a college Greek dance. They married after graduation and started their family with Rudy in medical school and Carolyn starting her job at Eli Lilly in Indianapolis. Soon they welcomed their first-born son, Jeffrey. After Rudy finished medical school, they moved to Washington, DC for his neurosurgery residency at Georgetown University Hospital. During this period of time, she worked two part-time jobs—one as a legal secretary on Washington’s Embassy Row—before welcoming their second son, Kenneth.

During the Vietnam War, Rudy was inducted into the armed forces as Lieutenant Commander and neurosurgeon and posted to the U.S. Naval Base in Portsmouth, Virginia where their first daughter, Kim was born.

After his service in the military ended, Rudy and Carolyn decided to move back to Indiana to be closer to Carolyn’s family. Rudy started a neurosurgery practice and together they planted strong roots in Fort Wayne and welcomed their youngest daughter, Heidi. Carolyn adored being a mother of two boys and two girls and her infamous loud whistle could be heard blocks away at dinnertime.

Always a lover of nature and animals, Carolyn joined the Fort Wayne Zoo Board of Directors in 1971 and remained Director Emeritus until her passing. She once said that her greatest accomplishment was to help develop the Children’s Zoo.

Carolyn’s fascination of nature and all its abundance included her formidable rose gardens at their historic home on Forest Park Boulevard and cottage on Lake Wawasee, plus the family’s beloved cats and dogs. She also felt a great spiritual connection to birds, and helped the Audubon Society with their annual bird counts.

Carolyn longed to extend the beauty of nature indoors and succeeded by leading the interior design renovations of their Forest Park home—an early twentieth-century English Tudor. She even started her own interior design business, the House of Windsor, to extend her talent to friends. She loved the theater and served on the Fort Wayne Embassy’s Board of Directors, contributing to their first successful renovation downtown.

Carolyn served as President of the Fort Wayne Medical Auxiliary where she invested her time and talent. She was known for the lovely parties she hosted at their Forest Park home on behalf of many local charities and organizations. She extended her gift of hospitality to her family through large annual holiday family gatherings. Carolyn had a strong faith in God that she shared with her family through nightly prayers and active membership at Trinity English Lutheran Church in downtown Fort Wayne and St. Luke’s Episcopal Church on Hilton Head Island.

Carolyn enjoyed playing tennis and earned recognition as a talented player. She was captain of a 3.5 USTA Women’s Tennis Team, winning two Indiana state championships and one bid to the Nationals. She cheered on her sons Jeff and Kenny at countless tennis matches across the Midwest and coached Heidi’s Canterbury High School tennis team with the assistance of Kenny.

Carolyn also fell in love with golf, playing in women’s groups at Fort Wayne Country Club and Sea Pines Country Club on Hilton Head where she permanently retired. She returned to Indiana each year to visit with family and her many lifelong friends and to help raise money for breast cancer research in the Vera Bradley Golf Classic.

Carolyn just knew how to make her family and friends feel loved and appreciated through her warm and welcoming smile, contagious laughter and strong hugs. She loved to impart her father’s wisdom, and remained patient and kind, even in the most challenging situations.

Carolyn was preceded in death by her son, Kenneth. She leaves behind her younger sister, Barbara Demaree of Fort Myers, Florida; son and daughter-in-law Jeffrey and Colleen Kachmann of Fort Wayne; daughter Kim Kachmann of Hilton Head Island; daughter and son-in-law Heidi and Will Anderson of Augusta, Georgia; and thirteen grandchildren: Jessica, Samantha, and Coulson Geltz; Jacquie, Sarah, and Dylan Kachmann; Zachary, Isabel, and Alexander Anderson; and Zach, Kyle, Anna, and Kate Towner.

A Celebration of Life for Carolyn is 5:00PM on Saturday, March 4, 2023 at Six Oaks Cemetery, 175 Greenwood Dr., Hilton Head Is., SC. Memorial donations in honor of Carolyn's life may be made to the Fort Wayne Children's Zoo.

Arrangements by D.O. McComb and Sons Covington Knolls Funeral Home, 8325 Covington Road, Fort Wayne, IN. Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.mccombandsons.com for the Kachmann family.