Carla S. Chester died in the comfort of her family on June 6, 2026, at the age of 72. She was born in Elkhart on November 8, 1953, to Donald R. and Wanetta McFall. She is survived by her husband of 43 years, Edward J. Chester, and their three children, Carrie L. Morton (Chad) of Middlebury, Michael E. Chester (Katherine Ollenberger) of Baltimore, Maryland, and Kathryn A. French of Mishawaka. She is also survived by her grandchildren, Lucy Fetterer, Joseph Fetterer, Parker Morton, Reid Morton, Elliot French, Teddy Chester, and Adam Chester, as well as two great-grandchildren, Wrenley Miles and Winnie Miles, and her siblings, including her brother, Thomas R. McFall of Bloomington, and two sisters, Donetta Atkinson of Crossville, Tennessee and Cinda Belanger of Mishawaka. She was preceded in death by her parents, her youngest sister, LeAnne J. Brill, and her first husband Rodger Defebaugh.

Carla was a graduate of Elkhart High School, class of 1972. She enjoyed her life at Birch Lake in Vandalia, Michigan for the past 19 years. Before that she and her family lived in Middlebury and Bristol where she raised and rode horses, a life she had always dreamed of as a child. She was a Master Gardner and loved tending flowers and plants in her yard. She worked at Love Way as a barn manager, and later owned and operated an art gallery known as Art Matters in Goshen where she sold the work of local and regional artists until the financial crash of 2008 forced the business to close. After that she used her lifetime experience as a seamstress to produce and sell mittens and other products from recycled wool sweaters. Following several years in the Mitten Factory, she then gifted that business to the Soup of Success program of Church Community Services, where she volunteered to train women in the art and craft of sewing mittens. That successful program continues to this day under the name of Mittens on a Mission.

Carla was a talented artist in her own right, producing a number of oil and acrylic paintings. She was an immensely talented cook, homemaker and landscaper and became highly proficient as the operator of a Bobcat skid loader. She enjoyed golf, fishing, and searching for unique shells in southwest Florida where she and her husband spent winters since 2015. She was a lifetime Democrat and proud of her progressive beliefs in favor of diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice. Most of all, Carla loved her children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and friends, and was happiest in her home in their company.

The family will host a memorial reception on Wednesday, July 1, 2026, at the Wellfield Botanic Gardens, 1011 N. Main Street in Elkhart, from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. All are invited. No flowers are requested.

Memorial contributions may be made to: Church Community Services, P.O. Box 2346, Elkhart, IN 46515, Serenity Hall, 949 Middlebury Street, Elkhart, IN 46516, or Love Way, Inc., 54151 C.R. 33, Middlebury, IN 46540.

Carla will be interred at Rice Cemetery in a private ceremony on a later date. Hartzler Gutermuth Inman Funeral Home is assisting the family with arrangements.