Decker K. Elder, 87, of South Charleston, WV died Tuesday, August 16, 2022, at home.
She was born November 1, 1934, near Romney, WV and was preceded in death by her husband, George B. Elder, her parents, Nellie and William Kuykendall, and her brother, Mike Kuykendall. She is survived by sisters, Edith Kuykendall Crane of Mount Pleasants, South Carolina and Mary Kuykendall Weber of Middle Grove, New York, and four nieces.
Decker attended a 2-room grade school, passed the diploma test, and was graduated from Romney High School as valedictorian in 1952. She was graduated from West Virginia University in Morgantown in 1956 with a major in chemistry and a minor in math. During her school years, she worked on a sugar corn farm, as a waitress in a restaurant and a hotel, in a fruit packing shed, and two summers at Union Carbide in a laboratory. After finishing school, she joined Union Carbide Corporation in South Charleston, WV where she met her future husband. She worked in Research and Development at the Technical Center for most of her career in analytical and process development and spent the last two years in production at the South Charleston plant. She and her husband worked in Ponce, Puerto Rico for Union Carbide for a year and a half. In 1986, she retired and then worked part time until 1994 at Carbide. After retirement, she became a volunteer tutor for students and friends in math and chemistry which she enjoyed very much. She liked gardening, mowing grass, and anything to be done outside.
At her request, there will be no services and her ashes will join her husband’s ashes in the hay field and woods where they lived for many happy years.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made in Decker’s name to Rock Lake Presbyterian Church, 905 Village Drive, South Charleston, WV 25309 or to HospiceCare, 1606 Kanawha Blvd., W. Charleston, WV 25312.