Elsie Lyon Miller Carmichael

Elsie Lyon Miller Carmichael

Elsie Lyon Miller Carmichael died Jan. 25, 2018 at Bishop Drumm Nursing Home in Johnston, Iowa, with family by her side. Visitation and services were held on Monday, Jan. 29, at Glen Echo Christian Church in Des Moines, Iowa.

Elsie was born Sept. 13, 1924 to John Raymond and Alice Ruth Padgett Lyon in Fort Scott. She graduated from Fort Scott High School with the Class of 1942 and continued her education at Fort Scott Junior College and at Kansas State Teacher’s College, in Pittsburg, Kan. She then moved to Hutchinson where she initially worked as secretary to a local banker and later as a secretary at Sears Roebuck. While at Sears, she met Raymond Burl Miller, a Sears department manager, and they married in Fort Scott on May 9, 1948. They resided in Kansas and later moved to Des Moines, Iowa. After the death of her first husband, she married William Carmichael on Jun. 27, 1970.

Elsie spent time raising her children and grandchildren while creating beautiful crafts in her spare time. She worked as an accountant at Feldman's Clothing Store, Ardan Wholesale and Heritage Communications in Des Moines.

She was a longtime member of Glen Echo Christian Church where she served in several roles over the years. She was especially active with the Salvation Army and Meyer Hall for juvenile’s ministries. She also was very active in the Meredith Drive Reformed Church quilting group making hundreds of quilts for the homeless. After retirement, she continued to make crafts where many family and friends benefited from beautiful gifts of her special talent. Her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren were the center of her world.

She is survived by her daughter, Nancy (Barry) Cook of Des Moines; grandchildren, Matthew (Robin) Cook of Wilmette, Ill., and Michelle (Matt) Reaman of Polk City, Iowa; seven beautiful great grandchildren; and brother, Kenneth Lyon of Fort Scott.

She was preceded in death by her parents, two brothers, Harlan E. Lyon and John R. Lyon, her husbands, Raymond Burl Miller and William Carmichael plus two sons, John Raymond Miller and Gordon James Miller.

A grave site service with interment will be at the Fort Scott National Cemetery, 11 a.m., Friday, Feb. 2, 2018, with Dr. Jared Witt officiating.

Memorial contributions may be made to Glen Echo Christian Church in Des Moines or the Fort Scott Presbyterian Church.