Dr. Karl A. Ohly

PUTNAM STATION | In Memory of Dr. Karl A. Ohly Dr. Karl A. Ohly, 50, of Putnam Station, N.Y., passed away on July 14, 2026, while farming hay. His untimely death leaves an immeasurable void in the lives of his family, friends, patients, and the many people whose lives he touched through medicine, farming, and friendship. Karl was born on Sept. 20, 1975, in Sandusky, Ohio, to Gisela J. (Eilers) Ohly and Dr. Karl W. Ohly. Raised in a home that valued education, craftsmanship, music, languages, and the outdoors, he developed an enduring curiosity, love of learning, and respect for both nature and hard work. He earned three undergraduate degrees from Ohio University, where he met his beloved wife, Lani, while serving on the board of the Last Chance Corral, a neonatal foal rescue. He later received his Doctorate from Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine with training in pediatric cardiac electrophysiology at Vanderbilt and Boston Children's as well as Indian Health Services in Shiprock, N.M. He completed pediatric residency at Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital through Case Western Reserve University, and became a highly respected pediatrician in Marietta, Ohio. He was well-known for compassion, patience, and clinical skill, from greeting new parents to obstetric emergencies, he cared for thousands of children and their families over a distinguished career. Beyond medicine, Karl was devoted to agriculture, historic preservation, environmental stewardship, and lifelong learning. He loved music, woodworking, science, cooking, gardening, history, and conversation, and he formed strong friendships wherever he went. Karl delighted in teaching. He was always available to help others in his various fields of interests - medicine, farming/gardening/orchardry, carpentry, timber framing, slate-roofing, barn restoration, freely sharing his knowledge and encouraging others to believe they were capable of everything they imagined. Among his greatest accomplishments was the massive passive solar red oak timber frame he built, where construction drew in countless teens and young adults to help out with every odd job. He was so proud of all the young people he mentored while building his home in Barlow, Ohio, who grew up to be carpenters, farmers, medical professionals, engineers, scientists, soldiers, and other stellar humans. In 2017, he and his family relocated to Lakeside Farm and the Inn on Lake Champlain in Putnam Station, N.Y., and he reluctantly set his medical career aside in his constant effort to meet all of farming and family life's demands. Only recently had he filed for and been approved with New York State for a new medical practice, "Hayseed Pediatrics, which would have specialized in country kids and their active lives. He embraced every challenge of farming with enthusiasm, whether repairing century-old barns, gardening, caring for livestock, putting up hay, or dreaming of future projects that would bring people together around the land he loved. He was looking forward to more timber-framing projects with new parts and pieces milled over winter for various local barns and outbuildings, riding his Percheron colt, hosting B&B and expanding his farm offerings, planting out an orchard from the hundreds of young trees already growing tall in the kitchen garden, and watching his beloved children, nieces and nephews grow. Karl found peace and purpose in dreaming big dreams. He had collected almost everything needed for an orchard and cider operation. He bought and began to restore a 32" historic apple press "built before California was a state" with a hydraulic cylinder "handmade from an old cannon casting, that can lift 95 tons or more," "hand-plated with no runout," etc.; he always delighted in recounting its details. He had hoped to build a small timber-frame wedding and farm-to-table venue with a few glamping cabins; he so wanted to share his farm. Last summer, he grafted and planted hundreds of apple trees, and many of his friends met him only due to a shared love of apples and cider. Above all else, Karl was a devoted husband and father. He and Lani built a life centered on family, sharing, learning, sustainability, and service. His greatest joy was watching his children grow, play on the farm, learn about cooking and food, teaching them science, encouraging their art, music, and curiosity, celebrating their accomplishments, and teaching them the values of integrity, perseverance, kindness, and the real physical effort and strength of character it takes to never give up, to always say, "I can do this," while also never ceasing to make his strong arms and broad shoulders available, however long they wanted to be held. The memories they created together—in the garden, on the tractors, around the dinner table, working side by side, cooking and dancing in the kitchen, cuddling up to a great old movie, hiking and gathering food from the forest, and enjoying the beauty of the Adirondacks—will be treasured. Karl is survived by his loving wife, Lani; his cherished children, Karl Albrecht (13), Elisabeth Analiese (9), Edward Ansel (7), and Abbott Baird Ohly (3) ; his mother, Gisela Johanna Ohly; his sister, Elisabeth Ohly-Davis; brother-in-law, Andrew Davis; and brother, Johann Ohly, sister-in-law, Anna Ohly, and their children, Oscar, Theodore, Lucia, Oliver, and Isla; his mother-in-law, Cynthia Calvert-Arbuthnot; his father-in-law, Jack Arbuthnot; his brother-in-law, Skylar Arbuthnot, and wife, Kielly Arbuthnot, and their son, Heath; and extended family members, dear friends, former colleagues, and grateful patients whose lives were touched by his compassion. He was preceded in death by Dr. Karl W. Ohly; paternal grandparents, Richard and Louise (Wigand) Ohly; and maternal grandparents, Walter and Ilse (Waetzmann) Eilers. Family and friends are invited to remember and celebrate Dr. Karl Ohly Aug. 3 at 4 p.m., at Cummings Park in Putnam Station, N.Y. Please bring a snack to share. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Vermont Public Television, your local PBS children's program(s), another children's education program, or any deserving child in want of advanced education/musical lessons/sailing experience, etc.; medical programs or environmental charities of your choice. Those wishing to support his family are welcome to share the business media posts from The Inn on Lake Champlain or Lakeside Farm, which they will be making every effort to keep open. More importantly, Karl Ohly would wish all of his loved ones to plant an heirloom apple tree or two in their own yard. Karl's life reminds us that greatness is found in acts repeated faithfully with every expectation of reliability over a lifetime: making a frightened child laugh at their appointment, coaching anxious new parents through 'baby's firsts,' mowing and baling too much hay with rain coming, maintaining rather than replacing your old barns and slate roofs, cooking fresh meals for your family, taking 15 minutes to instill in others that 'can do' attitude, and quietly chiseling away at a big dream. He would ask, "What would you want to accomplish with your time if you were to be waking up this morning near the end of your life, maybe 95 years old, crumpled, aching, tired, weak, and were suddenly and miraculously transformed back, meeting the day fresh again (at whatever age you are today)……. Really think, what would you want to accomplish with your time?" Although his years were far too few, his life was rich with purpose. His family and closest friends are better for knowing him, forever cherishing and striving to remember his love, his wisdom, his steady presence, his huge, warm hugs, and the example he set. The children he healed, the house he built, the barns he saved in Ohio and in Putnam Station, the family he loved, and the lives he touched stand as his enduring legacy. If not for this tragedy, he had so much more to give to his family, friends, and community. He will be deeply missed and forever remembered.

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