Carol Jean Horst, age 72, of Paradise, passed away on Friday, October 31, 2025 at the Lancaster General Hospital. She was the loving wife of James E. Horst for 51 years. Born in Lancaster, she was the daughter of the late Earl and Marian Leaman Neff. Carol was a member of New Covenant Mennonite Fellowship where she served for many years on the food committee and the worship team, as well as in the church library. For the last 30 years, she was a faithful employee at Kitchen Kettle Village. In her free time, she loved doing puzzles, playing games, reading, gardening and going on her daily walks. Our beloved Carol embodied service, hard work, and just the right amount of mischief. She carried the Father’s light within and allowed it to shine like a beacon of welcome to those she met, perhaps not in the form of sermons, but within the simple acts of caring and service and sacrifice. She was not pretentious or proud. She was thoroughly content and confident in who God created her to be: an unassuming wildflower planted for His glory, rooted in His love, and plucked for His pleasure. And now, we imagine she is walking with her Savior in His breathtaking garden, marveling in its pest-free perfection. She is delighting in her eight bonus grandbabies, who she never got to hold on earth. And most assuredly, she is singing. Surviving besides her husband are 5 children; Janet, wife of Steven Stuckey of Lancaster, Jon, husband of Michelle Martin Horst of Cañon City, CO, Juanita, wife of Jonathan Groff of Elizabethtown, Janelle, wife of Matthew Stauffer of Manheim, Judith, wife of Delton Martin of Ephrata, 24 grandchildren and 4 siblings; Doris Ann, wife of Gary Glick of Mountville, Steven, husband of Susan Herr Neff of Trout Run, Earl L. Jr., husband of Connie Haire Neff of Montoursville, and Kenneth, husband of Dawn Kauffman Neff of Stevens.
A funeral service will take place at New Covenant Mennonite Fellowship, 529 East Farmersville Road, New Holland, on Wednesday, November 5th at 10 a.m. There will be a viewing time at the church on Tuesday evening from 2 to 4 p.m. and again from 6 to 8 p.m. Interment will be in the adjoining church cemetery. In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to Fields of Hope Ministries, www.fieldsofhopeghana.org or to New Horizons Ministries, P.O. Box 1500, Cañon City, CO 81215.