Alfreda Karlin, Catherine, Kansas, age 88, passed away June 5, in Brentwood, Tennessee, where she lived with her daughter. Alfreda died from Alzheimer’s Disease.
Alfreda was born on May 16, 1933, in Hays, to Alfred and Constance (Novak) Wiesner. She was their only child. She married Wilfric Karlin, Catherine, on August 1, 1962, and they were married until his death February 13, 2002. Together they had 2 children, 5 grandchildren and 6 great grandchildren.
Alfreda’s father, Alfred, was a butcher and ran the family grocery store, Wiesner’s, on Main Street. As a girl, Alfreda loved to visit her father in the store and help with grocery deliveries. She loved being outdoors, gardening, riding her bike around Hays and going to the country to ride her horses and to fish. She was also an avid reader, a hobby that gave her much pleasure her entire life. She attended, St. Joseph’s Parochial School, Girl’s Catholic High and Fort Hays State University. She graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Education in 1955 and taught 2nd grade for 7 years at Immaculate Heart of Mary Elementary, now Holy Family Elementary.
In 1962, she married Wilfric Karlin and they made their home together on a farm near Catherine. Alfreda gave up teaching to raise her two children John Karlin and Ruth Karlin Albrecht. She continued her love of teaching as an elementary religious ed teacher for the Catherine parish for many years where she was a member. Alfreda loved the country life. She loved animals and flowers and the beauty of nature. She took long walks on the family farm several times a day. She loved to travel and see the world. She visited all 50 states, both neighboring countries, and took many trips abroad to Europe, China and Australia. But she always loved returning to her home on the farm where she lived until 2016.
Alfreda moved to Nashville to live with her daughter Ruth and son-in-law John Albrecht in 2016. There, she was cared for in the home as her Alzheimer’s disease progressed.
She is survived by her son, John Karlin, and wife Susan of Catherine; her daughter, Ruth Albrecht, and husband John, of Brentwood, TN; grandchildren, Jake Karlin, and wife, Emily, of Catherine; Jordan Ottley, and husband Jordan, of Catherine; Alex Barrett of Nashville, TN; Kendra Karlin of Kansas City, KS; Austen Berry, and husband David of Nashville, TN, and six great grandchildren, Liberty, Bella, and Lily Karlin and Josie, Lucy, and Oliver Ottley.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Alfred Wiesner (1978) and Constance (Tance) Novak Wiesner (1994), and her husband, Wilfric Karlin (2002).
A funeral mass will be held at 10:00 a.m. August 13, 2021, at St. Catherine Church in Catherine, Kansas, with Fr. Earl Befort presiding. Please join the family for a casual visitation before the funeral starting 9:15 a.m. at the church. The family is requesting all memorials to go to the Alzheimer’s Foundation. You may link to the page set up in Alfreda’s honor at http://act.alz.org/goto/ForAlfreda