Name Unknown

Harold E. "Hap" Carmichael, 103, died peacefully at Sullivan Co. Community Hospital on Saturday, June 14th. A life-long resident of Sullivan County, Hap was born north of Carlisle on December 31,1904. Harold lived in the family home on his farm west of Sullivan until a few weeks before his death. He was one of seven children of John and Sarah Jane Carmichael, all of whom have predeceased him.

He is survived by his three children and their spouses, Ed (and Jo Ann) Carmichael of rural Sullivan, Tom (and Catherine Hayden) Carmichael of Evanston, IL; Susan (and Charles) Rinehart also of rural Sullivan, and his six grandchildren, Ted and Jack Carmichael, Megan, Charles, and Jennifer Rinehart, and Bryce Halbert, and other relatives.

For 54 years he shared his life with his wife Katherine Kaufman Carmichael who died in 1989. A farmer from his earliest years, he began working the soil with teams of mules in the 1910's. Over the years he was an early adapter of new farming techniques and crops. He bought his first tractor in 1921. He was among the first to switch from steel wheels to rubber tires. In the 1940's, neighbors saw him working his fields with dual- wheeled tractors long before duals became a common sight elsewhere. In 1936 he was among the first in the state to plant soybeans. He bought the seed beans from the University of Illinois as part of an experiment. He had to hold his first crop of beans for over a year before he found a buyer.

Although he loved to be near to his farm and home, he was a traveler from his teenage years. When he was 16, long before there was a system of national roadways, he drove a model T from Indiana to California to work in the San Joaquin Valley for a winter. Later in 1966, he was part of a goodwill tour sponsored by the U.S. Departments of State and Agriculture to visit farms behind the Iron Curtain in the Soviet Union. He traveled to South America to visit farms in Brazil and the Amazon basin in his late-80's Harold loved to tell stories of his early years and his many experiences. His family and friends will sorely miss him, his sense of fun and the guidance of his words of wisdom.

Services will be at 11:00 a.m. Tuesday, June 17 at the Holmes Memorial Chapel, Sullivan with Randy Pigg officiating. Burial will be in the Center Ridge Cemetery. Visitation is 4-8:00 p.m. Monday