07/22/2026
Wanted to get this posted for you all. The obit on FB. It is through the Arizona Republic and should be online soon (it's the same as here). It will run this Saturday and Sunday. The Celebration of Life is scheduled for Phoenix, Oct 24 at 10 a.m. at First United Methodist Phoenix, 5510 North Central. Reception to follow.
Carolyn Strickler Warder, known as Lyn, died peacefully at the age of 86, leaving behind a legacy of kindness, service, and friendship. Although she spent her final three years in Albuquerque, Phoenix was always the place she considered home and loved deeply. (Kicking and screaming might be the right adjectives for her move to ABQ.)
A proud graduate of Mansfield Senior High School in Mansfield, Ohio, she maintained friendships with a group of ladies from Mansfield all her life. Lyn continued her education at Northwestern University before earning two master’s degrees from the University of Missouri. She was a lifelong member of Delta Gamma Fraternity. She valued education and approached life with curiosity and enthusiasm.
Lyn had an extraordinary gift for making people feel welcome. She truly never met a stranger, and her warmth and genuine interest in others created lasting friendships wherever she lived. She devoted thousands of hours to volunteering in hospital ERs throughout her life, touching the lives of patients, families, and healthcare workers with her compassion and generous spirit. In recognition of her lifelong commitment to serving others, she was honored with the President’s Lifetime Service Award—an honor that brought her tremendous pride.
Her Fear of Missing Out led her to attend every gathering and event she could, which is how she met the Beatles in Liverpool (before they were famous; she said they were “kind of smelly”), and forged a friendship with the conductor of the Phoenix Symphony.
Golf was one of Lyn’s greatest passions. She and an obscure golfer named Jack Nicklaus were junior golf champs in Ohio. She was an exceptional golfer who found joy, challenge, and friendship on the course. Strangers often were unsure about being paired with her, and then added her to their new friends list. She often joked that when she could no longer play golf, life would not be worth living. Those who knew her understood that golf was much more than a game to her—it was a source of happiness, connection, and purpose. She told her family not to “just give away” her Ping putter.
She was a long-time member of First United Methodist in Phoenix, serving in many areas as well as giving beyond her means, much to the chagrin of her financial advisor daughter. She was a favorite at her new church, St. Stephens UMC in Albuquerque. She also enjoyed learning more about bridge from the Duke City Bridge Club. She loved her friends at the Optum Community Center, making jewelry, doing creative writing, and learning Spanish (badly). Thank you from her daughter to those friends who were kind to her – and helped when Lyn gave up driving. (Thank God!)
Lyn is survived by her children, Jeff Warder and Jenny Migdal, and their spouses, Walt and Trina; her younger brother, David Strickler; her niece, Andi DeLap, and nephew Mike Strickler, and their spouses; her beloved grandchildren, Cameron, Megan and husband Mike, Clayton and wife Natalie, and Mackenzie; and her cherished great-granddaughters or "GGBs", Evelyn and Claire. She is also survived by her ex-husband, Dr. Richard C. Warder, Jr. of Columbia, MO.
Lyn believed that a life well lived was one spent helping others. In lieu of flowers, the family invites memorial contributions to organizations that were especially meaningful to her, including the Justa Center, St. Mary’s Food Bank, and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital (stjude.org).
Lyn will be remembered for her quick smile, her fighting spirit, her fashion sense, generous heart, and her ability to make every person she met feel like a friend. Her life was defined not only by what she accomplished, but by the countless lives she enriched through her compassion, generosity, and love. She will be deeply missed and forever remembered by her family, friends, and all who had the privilege of knowing her. See less
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