Kingfisher County Assessor Carolyn Mulherin, 61, died Saturday afternoon from complications of COVID-19, leaving a void at the county courthouse, as well as within her family.

Mulherin served more than 30 years in the county assessor’s office, first as a deputy and then as the elected successor to Eloise McCully, who retired as assessor in 2014.

Mulherin was re-elected to office in November 2018 and started her second term the following January.

She is a Kingfisher native and graduated from Kingfisher High School in 1978. She began as a deputy in the assessor’s office in 1991.

Other longtime county officials Lisa Markus, court clerk, and Jeannie Boevers, county clerk and former county treasurer, remember Mulherin not just as a county government colleague, but as a friend.

“Carolyn and I had been county employees together since she came to work at the courthouse, Markus said. “She was an asset to Kingfisher County and I know all of us county officials will miss her.

“Her office and mine don’t really have a lot of interaction, but we always would run into each other in the hallway and visit about our kids and grandkids and trips we had taken.”

“Carolyn and I have worked together for 25-plus years. We both started out as deputies in our offices and then as elected officials,” Boevers said.

“Our offices have to work closely together and if I had a question she was always very helpful and got me the answer I needed,” Boevers said. “It just won’t be the same going into the assessor’s office and not see Carolyn in there. She will truly be missed, as a coworker and as a friend.”

Associate District Judge Lance Schneiter, whose official functions include swearing in county officers, noted that Mulherin’s influence extended beyond the courthouse walls.

“Carolyn was a dedicated public servant and she will be missed at the Courthouse,” he said.

“More importantly, she was a wonderful person who has left a lasting mark on our community.”

Kingfisher County commissioners, who are tasked with appointing a replacement to serve the remainder of Mulherin’s term, issued a statement on behalf of other county officers:

“Carolyn will be greatly missed. She served the tax payers of Kingfisher County well. Our prayers go out to her husband and family.”

Her hospitality and love for her family were noted by her fellow courthouse officers as well.

Markus said Mulherin prepared an anual Christmas meal for her office staff.

“Her homemade cheesecake was the best part, in my opinion, she said.

“She loved taking her grandkids camping, she loved to travel and be with her family,” Boevers said. “And she was a great cook.”

Mulherin, her husband Roland and other family members were diagnosed with COVID-19 at the same time.

She and her husband were both hospitalized as they battled complications from the disease; however, her husband and other family members recovered.

In addition to her husband, Carolyn is survived by her son Lincoln Mulherin and wife Whitney and daughter Lindsay Lack and husband Jason, all of Kingfisher; sisters Linda Westfahl and husband Nick, Diana Helt and husband Lary and Janice Russell and husband Dick, all of Kingfisher; and eight grandchildren, Macey, Brett, Sofia, Brody, William, Emilia, Braydn and Camdyn.

Funeral services are scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 30, at Kingfisher Church of the Nazarene.

Burial will follow at Kingfisher Cemetery.

A complete obituary appears elsewhere in this edition.