Carol Keeler Handly of Overland Park, Kansas passed away in her sleep and in the company of her family on October 8, 2016 at the Kansas City Hospice House four and a half years after being diagnosed with stage IV NSCLC lung cancer. She was 76 years old.

Carol is survived by her husband, John Handly; her son and daughter-in-law, Mike Handly and Stacey Handly; her daughter and son-in-law, Beth Peck and Martin Peck; her grandchildren, Davis Peck and Julia Peck; her sister and brother, Joyce Mott and Stephen Keeler; her nieces and nephew, Marcia Beller, Diane Fessler, Amy Hagood, and Tim Mott; and several cousins.

Born December 21, 1939 in Kansas City, Missouri to Philip and Bernice Keeler, Carol graduated from Rosedale High School in Kansas City, Kansas and attended the University of Kansas on scholarship, where she met John, the man with whom she would share 56 years of marital devotion, love, family, friendships, and adventure.

Marriage to an airline pilot required Carol to manage home and children on her own for weeks at a time, which she did, unfailingly and without complaint. Perhaps this was because, despite its challenging time demands, her husband’s job also enabled the family to travel extensively, and Carol relished adventure and new experiences. Whether it was a trip around the world or within the States; backpacking across Europe with two grade schoolers; crewing a Caribbean sailboat; learning to scuba dive and play tennis; moving hearth and home to Colorado in the summers and Texas in the winters; or working toward her pilot’s license, Carol was willing to try new things and was always looking for ways to appreciate the beauty of her world.

That appreciation for beauty was also evident in Carol’s creative pursuits. She was a lover of classical music and fine art, an accomplished pianist, and a nationally recognized textile artist. She shared her talents by teaching piano, participating in Shawnee Mission School District’s Picture Lady program, and gracing family, friends, and clients with applied embroidery, knit, and loom-woven creations of her own design, despite having lost the feeling in her hands due to multiple sclerosis.

Carol was a devout Christian whose faith informed every aspect of her life. A lifelong Presbyterian, she contributed to her church family through teaching, singing in the choir, and an abundance of other services too numerous to relate. Carol was also a fifty-year member of the philanthropic sorority, P.E.O., and a steadfast supporter and promoter of its causes. Indeed, it was Carol’s selfless and charitable nature, partly innate and partly a result of her faith, that drew people to her wherever she went. It seemed she would leave every room she entered with at least two new friends, and she valued and nurtured those friendships with an inimitable constancy and care that she sustained to the very end.

Carol’s life will be celebrated at a memorial service followed by a reception on October 22, 2016 at 2:00 p.m. at the Presbyterian Church of Stanley, 14895 Antioch Road in Overland Park, with private interment at Leavenworth National Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Kansas City Hospice & Palliative Care; the American Cancer Society; and P.E.O. International.