Carl Lehl

Funeral services for Carl Henry Lehl will be 11:00 a.m. Tuesday, September 17, 2013, at the First United Methodist Church with Pastor Terry Martindale officiating. Interment will be in the Short Springs Cemetery under the direction of Marshall Funeral Home of Alva. Carl Henry Lehl, son of the late William and Pauline (Schlegel) Lehl, was born December 2, 1928, on the family farm which was purchased before 1907 and is still owned by Carl. He passed away September 13, 2013, at Alva, Oklahoma, at the age of 84 years, 9 months, and 11 days. He went to Elmdale School, then graduated from Alva High School in 1948. A skating outing to Waynoka with some friends found him helping a skater up from the floor. Her name was Beulah Corbin and he thought she was a “Dandy.” They were married in 1951, three days after she graduated from high school. Nine months later he was drafted into the Marine Corps, and served in Korea until 1954. Upon returning from the service he and his father bought their first rotary rig and started Lehl and Son Water Well Drilling. He and Beulah worked as a team for the next 39 years. He drilled and installed windmills and pumps while she managed the shop and the books. They raised their four children, Ron, Judy, Gary and Mark. They enjoyed making kites, snow igloos, went sledding over the farm terraces, traveled and camped. He was an expert and cleaning all their fish, building tree houses and fixing things. His talents were put to work in the church. His stained glass hobby became a project of the heart as he and other members of the church removed and restored each of the 78 stained glass windows. First Methodist has been his church home since birth. He sang in the choir, served on the board, and was a member of the Homebuilders Sunday School Class. The grandkids remember his teasing, wiggly ears, arm wresting, cutting wheat, digging for dinosaur bones at the farm, a love of ice cream and Dr. Pepper. Besides his parents, he was preceded in death by two brothers;Harold Lehl and Elvest Lehl; and one great granddaughter, Savannah Lehl. Carl is survived by his wife, Beulah, of Alva; three sons, Ron and Susie Lehl of Wilmore, Kansas, Gary and Myrhenda Lehl of Alva, and Mark and Carla Lehl of Alva; one daughter, Judy and Ron Strahan of Edmond; and two sisters, Nellie Lohrding of Coldwater, Kansas, and Frieda Staake of Forsythe, Missouri. Also surviving are 12 grandchildren, Mike and Renee Lehl, Rocky and Marci Lehl, Ashley Lehl, Nicholas Strahan, Tad Strahan, Travis Lehl and fiancé, Ashley, Blake Lehl, Ryan Tune, Rhenda and Daren Bunch, Alisha and Ron Willett, Keyla and Dave Flavell, and Jacob and Jill Estep; 13 great grandchildren; other relatives and friends. Memorial contributions may be made through the funeral home to the First United Methodist Church or the Ronald McDonald House.

Carl Lehl

December 2, 1928 - September 13, 2013