Alexis Theresa Schlarb

Alexis Theresa O'Kon Schlarb left this world peacefully among family on January 24, 2018, after a brief illness. Born in Atlanta on June 19, 1945, Alexis, known affectionately by many as Candy, lived around the United States and in Europe with her family. Together they lived in Spartanburg, SC; Charleston, SC; Cheboygan, MI; Brussels, Belgium; Chicago, IL; and Cincinnati, OH, where she raised her family with Roger, her loving husband of 53 years. They eventually settled in Young Harris,Georgia, the mountain region Candy had visited with her family since a young age.


Candy was an educator and life long learner who instilled in many a love of reading, the arts, languages,culture, history, culinary arts, and politics. A voracious reader,Candy's library contained thousands of books, representing just a fraction of the volumes she read in her lifetime. With great joy and affection, she seeded her children's and grandchildren's libraries and a shared passion for reading and learning.


Candy was an autodidact, who developed expertise and superb competency in whatever she set her mind to in too many topics to list, but most notably in a few. She studied art history, an interest she shared with many through her years as a docent at the William Howard Taft Museum in Cincinnati, Ohio. She became highly proficient in German language, in which she earned a Goethe Institute certificate; and in cooking, which many friends and family enjoyed. She formally pursued her passion for cooking, first by earning an Associate's degree in Culinary Arts and then by teaching as a culinary arts instructor at North Georgia Technical College and at several regional high schools. Her most apt pupil was her granddaughter, Emily, who has already become a talented cook.


Candy contributed her professional skills to several organizations since moving to Young Harris, working at the Towns County Chamber of Commerce, at the Fairgrounds, and volunteering as a member of the Board of the Friends of the Library and for the Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) agency.


Many friends and family members love and miss her, most especially her husband, Roger; daughter Elizabeth Schlarb; daughter Mary Schlarb with son-in-law Michael Richardson and grandson Max; Chad Schlarb with grandchildren Emily and Clayton and daughter-in-law Carrie McIntyre-Schlarb; siblings Colleen Ramirez(Clark), Mary Stimmel (Carl), Jim O'Kon (Carol), Jan Lewandowski; sister-in-law Nancy O'Kon; sister-in-law Nancy Patterson (Jeff);and many nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her parents, Rita and Al O'Kon, and her brother, Mike O'Kon. She also leaves behind several dogs, cats, and other animals, after a lifetime of nurturing animals.


Candy was driven by her sense of social justice and deep concern for the welfare of people and animals. The family suggests that those wishing to honor her memory consider giving a donation to the community development organization, Heifer International, or the world community health organization, Doctors Without Borders.