Carl Howard Jahnes

Carl Howard Jahnes, 72, of Columbus, Ohio, passed away on February 8, 2026. He was born on September 1, 1953, at Memorial Hospital in Charleston, West Virginia, to Henry Jahnes and Carolyn "Connie" Pike Jahnes. Named for his uncle Carl and his maternal grandfather Howard, he was the eldest of six children.

Carl's father, Henry, from Mystic CT, was a World War II veteran who served at D-Day with the Coast Guard and later earned a chemical engineering degree from the University of Michigan. His mother, Connie, from Albany, NY, studied chemistry and education at Russell Sage University and later taught math, played the organ at church, and wrangled all those kids.

Carl grew up in St. Albans, West Virginia. Throughout junior high and high school, Carl delivered newspapers with his dog Brownie trailing close behind. His dad made sure he woke early on weekends to help with projects - raking leaves, working on Volkswagens, tending the garden, and prepping for whole-family camping trips. While attending St. Albans High School, he enjoyed playing clarinet in the marching band, achieved rank of Eagle Scout, and met a friend who greatly impacted his thinking about Christianity.

Carl attended the University of Cincinnati, College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning, from 1973 to 1977, studying architecture and participating in their cooperative education program. Near the end of his studies, he spent a meaningful summer in the inner city of St. Louis with the "Training Center for Service," working with kids living in the infamous Pruitt-Igoe housing projects. There he met Diane Christman, who was also volunteering at the Training Center. They married in June 1976 in her parents' yard in Suffern, New York.

Carl and Diane were deeply committed to living out their Christian faith in community. Active in InterVarsity Christian Fellowship during college, they later joined a Christian community in Columbus, Ohio. In pursuit of a more integrated life, they moved with two other families to a farm in Hopewell, Muskingum County. The joy of their lives has been their three kids, Megan, Ben, and Jeff. Carl always had energy for wrestling, dramatic storytelling and reading of many books, improvising funny songs, and continuing his dad's tradition of assigning silly nicknames to all, including the many pets that joined the family.

Carl took on the huge commitment of hand-building the family home, a project that took many years to complete with the generous effort and support of numerous family and friends. He sought to live with biblical influences through herding sheep, tending bees, tending vines and living humbly. His faith journey took him through many church communities—St. James Episcopal Church in Cincinnati, establishing membership in Hidden Springs Farm Community, and other congregations in Zanesville, Buckeye Lake, and Columbus—always searching for meaning and purpose. Carl valued and established strong shared support and spiritual relationships throughout his adult life, wherever he found himself.

Carl worked for the City of Cincinnati's architectural office and later as a partner with Harden, Reid, Jahnes & Luchtenberg Architects in Newark, Ohio, where he found many kind friends in the office and in the community. He was interested in preservation, true green building, restoration, and questions around what good design should do. There was much about his work that was frustrating, but he worked diligently in the field for over 25 years. He left his mark on the community through the many structures he helped design and see through construction—museums, offices, homes, churches, university buildings, and banks. He won an award for Architectural Excellence in the "Hospital of the Year Competition" for a local veterinary hospital design. Diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease in 2002, he was compelled to retire early in 2008, a decision further influenced by the housing crisis that led to the closure of his business.

One of Carl's favorite projects was developing a vineyard of 2,400 vines in partnership with a friend. After their first grape harvest in 1997, the vineyard became a source of pride and accomplishment. Carl went on to take over the vineyard project and develop and operate Flint Ridge Vineyard Winery with his family, bottling 800 gallons of wine annually after 2004 and winning awards for his wines. Carl worked days as an architect and nights on this dream for about ten years. Again, the generous effort and support of family and friends contributed to making this dream possible. His son, Ben, continued work on this project for years.

Parkinson's Disease brought profound challenges. During a difficult period marked by the disease, medication effects, and grief, Carl made some significant choices that seemed inconsistent with who he had been throughout his life. In the last decade of his life, he experienced the symptoms of the late stages of Parkinson's Disease and depended on the specialized care of staff at the Ohio Living Westminster-Thurber care facility. During that time, he had opportunities for new friendships and sharing his music. The staff enjoyed his stories and distinctive personality and constantly worried as he zipped and tripped through the halls with his walker.

Carl loved to laugh and share a good story. He delighted in writing long Christmas letters about his family and highlights of each year. He loved to sing and play various instruments to entertain People will especially miss his quirky improvisations on the clarinet and guitar. He had a deep interest in religious philosophy and was an early adopter of the internet, debating people about religion on early computer forums. He seemed to relish digging in the ground, whether it was to plant a grapevine, lay drainage tile, or turn over soil in the garden. He enjoyed building stone walls with hand-gathered stones from the farm and liked to drive road rally style on the hilly back roads.

Favorite family memories include ice skating on the pond in winter with raucous ice hockey matches, his endless weekend battles with multiflora rose and field-encroaching trees, helping with Cub Scout race car derby designs, building the elaborate train set with its raise/lower platform and detailed landscape, campouts on the farm hill teaching how to build campfires, and cider pressing parties with family and friends.

Carl's life was one of complexity - marked by hard work, deep faith, and difficult choices, as well as curiosity, creativity, enthusiasm, and sharing love and joy through music and humor. He was a builder, both literally and figuratively: he built buildings and a vineyard and daydreams about goals and adventures. He faced a long, challenging time with his illness, during which he grieved and struggled with his identity and purpose. In his final years, he was thankful for the care of his family and the staff at his assisted living facility. He continued to connect to others with song even when his words wouldn't come together for conversation.

Carl lived with resilience through his challenges, showed compassion to all he met, remained humble in his accomplishments, and was generous with his talents and heart.

He is survived by his former wife, Diane Jahnes; his three children, Meg Tubman, Ben Jahnes, and Jeff Jahnes; his son-in-law, Gary, and three grandchildren, Jonah, Leah, and Nina; his daughter-in-law, Jessica, and granddaughter, Lily; and his younger siblings, Kathy, Andy, Maria, and Henry. He was preceded in death by his parents, Henry and Carolyn Jahnes, and his brother, Paul.

A funeral service will be held Thursday, February 12, 2026, at 3:00 PM at Schoedinger Midtown, 229 E State St, Columbus, OH, with a reception to follow from 4:00 to 6:00 PM. Instead of flowers, you may wish to make a memorial donation to a charity that is meaningful to you.

Please share your condolences, memories, and kindness with Carl's family.