On Sunday, April 21, 2024, Carolyn Harr Eichelman of Salem graduated to be home with the Lord. Mrs. Eichelman, a retired Roanoke County teacher turned author, is survived by her beloved husband Dr. Fred R. Eichelman, two children, Carol Lyn Eichelman Webster and Fredric Roger Eichelman, II, as well as five grandchildren, James William and Michael Fredric Patrick Webster and Anne Marie, Josiah David, and Fredric Charles Eichelman and one Great Grand Child, Lilly Mae Webster. Mrs. Eichelman was well loved as a teacher and was also called “the hostess with the mostest” for looking after a number of film and TV stars as well as politicians who came to the Roanoke Valley.
Carolyn Eichelman was born in 1936 in Argo, Kentucky, the only child of Everett and Ida Harr, and raised in Vansant, Virginia. She attended Grundy High School where she was a member of the Beta Club and played basketball. As head of the girl scouts, she succeeded in getting the town council to build a new bridge for the safety of children. She was also active in the Thespians. Her college work was at Radford College, now university, and her training was as a teacher with a business minor. She later did graduate work at the University of Virginia, and received a Masters in Elementary Education and Supervision from Virginia Tech and State University.
Mrs. Eichelman began her teaching career in Roanoke City with Preston Park Elementary. She married Fred R. Eichelman in 1960 and transferred to Roanoke County Schools where Dr. Eichelman was a teacher. Carolyn took a leave of absence while her two children were small and then returned to education as one of the first teachers in the Roanoke City Total Action Against Poverty (TAP) Head Start program. She later transferred to Salem where she was assistant head teacher for the Salem Head Start center. Working with her husband she was instrumental in the integration of the county school system.
After returning to public elementary school education Carolyn Eichelman taught at Conehurst, Academy Street, G. W. Carver, and her final teaching years, when Salem created its own school system, at Mason’s Cove. While in Salem, Carolyn received the Salem Jaycees Outstanding Teacher Award and in a statewide competition placed as second runner up. Her work in creating “interest centers” drew many observers from around the state and in the 1970’s, she headed a University of Virginia run team to write the first state wide curriculum guide for kindergarten.
Carolyn Eichelman was a life member of the National Education Association serving many terms as a faculty representative and as a delegate to state and national conventions. She was one of the organizers and early officers in Salem’s Jaycettes and active in the Beverly Heights Civic League.
Her activities also extended into politics where she was a delegate to state Republican
conventions, was one of the founders of the Salem’s Republican Women organization and a worker in many political campaigns. She also hosted local Republican gatherings while active within the party.
For over forty years Mrs. Eichelman was very active as a chairperson for various committees associated with local media conventions. For RoVaCon she was deeply involved in the scholarship program which provided scholarships for dozens of high school seniors. For Rising Star, Starz 2000, Point North † and Happy Trails Virginia Style she was in charge of guest relations in working with film and TV stars. During the last few years Carolyn was very much involved in programs supporting cancer research, something she wrote published articles about, as well as raising money. She also hosted a number of social events in connection with the conventions both at the event itself and the Eichelman home.
In later years, she was a director for Point North † Outreach, Inc. the international Christian media organization. With her husband she encouraged young Christians to go into film and wanting to “walk the walk and not just talk the talk” and she served as an extra in two Christian films made in the Roanoke Valley.
Carolyn Eichelman was involved in programs to protect children and adults from abuse and to help children with learning disabilities. She also returned to other loved activities, such as art and landscape planning. Another interest was travel with her husband and her favorite places abroad were England and Spain.
Mrs. Eichelman was a member of CommUNITY Church in Salem and prior to that had been a member of First Baptist Church in Roanoke where she has served as a Sunday School teacher and on several committees. Prior to this she was a Sunday School teacher both at Salem Presbyterian and Westminster Presbyterian Churches. In her home, she co-hosted with her husband a monthly Bible Study titled God At The Movies. She also took part in Bible Study programs and film showings at the Richfield Retirement Community. She was pleased to be considered, with her husband Fred, as an intercessory missionary in visiting and helping their son and family when they served as missionaries in Spain.
Her daughter Carol Lyn Eichelman Webster is an award-winning drama and English teacher at William Byrd H. S. in Roanoke County, and her husband Buddy Webster is employed by Fuji. Her son Fred and wife Mary Kay Eichelman are home missionaries who work with international students at Virginia Tech and State University. William Webster is a retired army officer now a general contractor and his wife Dr. Brittany a pharmacist. Annie Eichelman is a social worker in Columbus, Ohio. Josiah and wife Emily Eichelman are engineers in Charlotte, NC. Michael Webster is with the Western Virginia Water Authority. Freddy Charles Eichelman is a research assistant at JMU.
Carolyn will be deeply missed by her family and her community which extends from England to California.
As a survivor of cancer, Carolyn Eichelman was very involved in cancer research and for that reason, requests in lieu of flowers that contributions be made instead to cancer research.
Services were at CommUNITY Church, 1923 E. Main St, Salem, VA on Sunday, April 28, 2024 at 3:00 p.m. The viewing was held one hour prior to the service, beginning at 2:00 p.m. The officiating Minister was Pastor Dr. Thomas William McCraken, III.
Expressions of sympathy may be sent to www.simpsonfuneral.com
