Carola Peterson Englehart passed away on December 13, 2020, making our world a little dimmer but the heavens brighter. Carola was born in New Bedford, Illinois, on May 6, 1933, to Oreetha (Monson) and Tracy Lee Peterson, and grew up in rural Illinois where she helped keep an eye on her four loving brothers, Dick, Norm, Chuck and Tom. She attended Manlius High School, and then earned a teaching degree from the (then) Northern Illinois State Teachers College. In 1960, Carola began 54 years of marital bliss with her husband Harold “Hezzie” Englehart, a union which produced their greatest blessing, a daughter, Linda Lee, born in 1963. For over thirty years Carola selflessly served the community through her work as a 4th grade teacher, mostly at Paw Paw (Illinois) Elementary School, until her retirement in 1986. Among other passions and interests, Carola loved music, her family, and golf, and in all pursuits, she excelled to a hole-in-one level (scoring at least one ace on the golf course).
Carola was a highly intelligent, artistically gifted, gentle and giving person who was admired and loved by all who knew her. Her positive impact on the world will be forever felt through the many scores of students whose lives and intellects she touched and enriched. But perhaps her most enduring legacy will be through the love, nurture, guidance, and wisdom she shared with her daughter Linda, son-in-law Mike Curme and beloved grandchildren Christopher and Mary Curme, who held a most special place in her heart. Carola truly lived every day according to the golden rule, thereby making everyone she knew a little better, sometimes by an act as simple as adding a bit of lard to the mix when preparing her astonishing pie crust.
A memorial service will be held at 11:00 A.M. Saturday, October 16, 2021, at the Paw Paw United Methodist Church with Pastor Dana Cox officiating. Visitation will be from 10:00 A.M. until the time of the service at the church. Interment will follow in Wyoming Township Cemetery.
