Carolyn Lea States was born January 14, 1947, in Quinter, KS, to Henry and Dorothy (Lerew) Duncan. The oldest of 3 kids, she had fond memories of time spent with her parents and 2 brothers Jan and Jon Duncan.  She often shared memories of them going to Colorado for yearly fishing trips.

Education was important to her family, as her dad was a principal/educator and her mother was also a teacher.  After graduating from Logan High School, Carolyn continued her studies, graduating from Kansas State University in 1968 with a degree in Elementary Education.  During college, she married Alan E. States from Logan.  While they were stationed in Germany, she had her first child, David Alan.  After returning to Kansas to farm, Sarrah Elizabeth was born, and then their 3 ^rd child, Ryan Alexander was born during a family trip to Orlando, FL.

She was a devoted farm partner, a substitute schoolteacher that often filled in long term, and a loving mother/grammie.  Her love of God and family was evident in her daily life.  She believed in Christian service and volunteering; she was always the first to step up and help.

While living in Logan, she was a member of United Methodist Church, UMW, Phillips County Republicans, Hansen Museum Board from 1975-1994, USD 326 School Board, and was very active in Kansas Farm Bureau Women's Committee from 1990-2007. She traveled to Russia to exchange knowledge with farm wives. Carolyn was extremely active in all of her kids' events including 4-H, scouts, booster club and Post Prom committees, and showed the same support and involvement with her 5 grandkids that came later.

After moving to Hays in 1994, she joined North Oak Community Church.  She was a key leader on the compassion team, which worked with people during times of financial hardship, providing tenderness and assistance. She was heavily involved in Habitat for Humanity of Ellis County and even served as president, delivered Meals on Wheels, volunteered at schools with reading programs and mentored ESL students. She was on the board of Directors for 1st National Bank of Hays/Palco, a member of Hays Book Guild, on the Ellis County election board and held multiple offices in PEO.

She loved to travel, from day adventures to worldwide.  While some of her hobbies included reading, photography, gardening, bridge club, making quilts for the grandkids, her biggest hobby was anything K-State. She was proud to be part of Heartland Catbackers and helped with the annual auction and golf tournament. She held season tickets for KSU football and went to as many games as possible, inviting friends to cheer on the Cats with her!

She is survived by her husband, children, and grandchildren: Savannah and Summer Schneider of Hays, Anastasia Bonilla (Jaime) of Hays, Donovan and Cora States of Hays; one niece, Erica Duncan Smith of Wakeeney; 6 nephews Adam and Sam States of Logan, Steven, Robert, Jordan, and Timothy Duncan of Eugene, OR, and numerous great nephews and nieces. She is also survived by her brothers Jon Duncan and wife Gretchen of Eugene, OR and Jan and J.C. Duncan of Florence, AZ, and countless friends.

Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m. Friday, April 28, 2023 in the North Oak Community Church in Hays, KS. The services will be streamed live on the Olliff-Boeve Memorial Chapel Facebook page. Burial will follow that afternoon at 2:30 p.m. in the Pleasant View Cemetery, Logan, KS.

Visitation will be held Friday from 10:00 a.m. until service time at the church.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Hays Habitat for Humanity or the Dreiling Schmid Cancer Institute.