Carolyn Klassen

Carolyn Sue Klassen, age 71, of Garden City, Kansas, passed away peacefully on December 30, 2015. Carolyn was born on November 20, 1944, in Garden City, Kansas, to Jacob D. and Gretchen Ens. Carolyn married her high school sweetheart Tom on June 5, 1965. She graduated from Central Christian High School in Hutchinson in 1962, received her B.A. in Music Education in 1966, and M.A. in Music Education at the Kansas State Teachers College in 19967. Carolyn taught piano for one summer at Tabor College, gave private piano lessons for 15 years, and taught music courses as well as accompanied the choirs at Garden City Community College for 29 years, developing the Finnup Computer Piano Lab and receiving the Outstanding Faculty award for 2011-2012. Carolyn was a member of the Garden City Piano Teachers League, and in 1984, she organized the Garden City Piano Festival, which will be celebrating its 32nd year. Carolyn was patient, kind, and encouraging. She had a special love for gardening and animals, especially cats. She enjoyed cultivating the garden spot in front of GCCC’s Pauline Joyce Auditorium. Her humility in light of her musical prowess, her grace in the face of adversity, her spirit of benevolence, her quiet manner of inspiring hope, and her insurmountable love for her husband Tom are Carolyn’s legacy. Survivors include her husband Tom, of Garden City, Kansas, and her brother, Gordon Ens and his wife Chris, of Andover, Kansas, husband Tom’s siblings and spouses, and many nieces, nephews, and cousins. She was preceded in death by her parents. Special gratitude extends to the medical staff at Via Christi St. Francis in Wichita, Kansas, for their remarkable care and support. Family, friends and others whose lives Carolyn touched are invited to a special praise service to be held at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, january 16, 2016 at the United Methodist Church in Garden City, Kansas. Inline of flowers, memorial contributions in Carolyn’s name may be made to the Garden City Animal Shelter or the Lee Richardson Zoo in care of Price and Sons Funeral Home, 620 N. Main St, Garden City, Kansas, 67846.