Carroll Elno Fix

Carroll Elno Fix, 88, of St. Louis, MO passed away at his home on November 12, 2025 surrounded by his loving family.

Visitation is Thursday, November 20th, from 4-7 p.m. at McKown Funeral Home followed by a vigil service commencing at 7:00pm at McKown. Visitation will continue Friday morning, November 21st, at St. Bonaventure Catholic Church from 9:30 a.m. until the 10:30 a.m. Mass of Catholic Burial begins. Following the mass, internment will be in St. Patrick/Joseph Cemetery in rural Platte Center, Nebraska. A celebration of life will be hosted by the family from 2-8 p.m. at Duster's Restaurant in Columbus, Nebraska.

In lieu of plants and flowers, donations in memoriam of Carroll Fix are suggested to the Arbor Day Foundation https://www.arborday.org/

He was born at the family home in Platte Center, NE on January 9, 1937 to Elno and Magdalen (nee Liebig) Fix.

He spent the first few months of his life there until the age of four, when the family moved to Burbank, California as his dad got a job at Lockheed Martin. They spent a brief time in Kansas City after then returned to Nebraska, landing in Omaha. Their final destination was Columbus, NE where he attended St. Bonaventure graduating in 1955.

After high school, Carroll enlisted in the Air Force and was part of the Black Sheep battalion in Osaka, Japan. He received an associates degree from Platte Community College in Columbus and ultimately spent the bulk of his career at the Union Pacific Railroad while also helping his dad at Fix Motor Clinic in Columbus. Carroll met Mary Ann Gaspers in 1962 and they married in May of 1963 at Holy Family Church in Lindsay, NE. They spent their first few months at Carroll’s parent’s in Columbus until they found a duplex apartment. They ultimately bought their first family home on 20th Street near the Ag Park. Carroll and Mary Ann aka “wife” created a loving home filled with laughter and remained there for 15 years raising two daughters, Michelle and Christine, into their teen years before moving to Fremont, NE when Carroll was transferred.

Carroll’s second transfer took the family to Spokane, WA in 1984 where they remained for four years, moving to St. Louis, MO in 1988. He worked at the UPRR headquarters in downtown St. Louis where they remained for the duration of their 62-year marriage which was filled with love and laughter.

Carroll was a voracious reader of anything from classics to thrillers, a passionate stamp collector, an avid puzzler - both the crossword and jigsaw variety - and loved nature. So much so that when he helped his eldest daughter move from Seattle to New York, they drove through Yellowstone, stopping to steal some rocks from the park. He also loved to travel. He enjoyed and cherished trips to New York to visit his eldest and also to Germany when his youngest daughter, Christine married her husband Bo Ott. His travels fed into his love of history and antiquities. He thoroughly enjoyed collecting memorabilia from the museums and historic sites he visited. After retirement, Carroll became interested in cooking and really enjoyed flipping through cookbooks and choosing new recipes to make with his youngest, Christine.

Carroll loved to socialize. Barbecues, basement parties, family reunions, card nights, holidays, and spontaneous get-togethers would find him laughing, joking, and having a great time. He was quite literally the life of the party and his robust laugh was a warm invitation to join in the good times. He was kind, generous, intelligent, and an amazing husband and dad. He was a great listener later in life, though his yearbook photo was captioned “talkative” and he had an innate ability to make friends with everyone.

A hidden talent came to light later in life when he started creating beautiful work on his scroll saw machine in his late 70s. With patience and precision, he created Christmas ornaments, crosses, baskets, and so much more. There is a chasm in the family that will be felt for many years. He is survived by his wife Mary Ann, and his two daughters, Michelle and Christine, as well as his son-in-law Bo Ott. Anyone who met Carroll, met a friend.