John Edward Zumbrun, 73, of Kimmell, died at 1:23 a.m. Tuesday, October 14, 2008, at Lutheran Hospital, Fort Wayne.
He was born September 28, 1935, in Noble County, a son of Oras D. and Jesse (Smith) Zumbrun. His formative years were spent in Wolf Lake area. He graduated from Wolf Lake High School in 1953.
He met his wife, Miriam Swinger while working at Bethany Hospital in Chicago. They were united in marriage August 16, 1958. They made their home in the Wolf Lake area.
He was employed by J.I. Case in Churubusco and then over 30 years with Lyall Electric/Group Dekko, Kendallville, in injection mold design, engineering and management positions. He retired from B & J Specialties, Brimfield as the manager of engineering. He was also a life long farmer in the Wolf Lake area.
He was a member of Blue River Church of the Brethren and had served as a deacon. He was a member of Wolf Lake Volunteer Fire Department for a number of years.
Surviving relatives include his wife, Miriam; three children, Michael (Dawn) Zumbrun of Indianapolis, Marla (Sheldon) Bailey of Quincy, Illinois, and Melvin (Teresa) Zumbrun of Warren; 12 grandchildren; two brothers, James (Sherrill) Zumbrun of Albion and Thomas (Almeda) Zumbrun of Millersburg; one sister, Mary Lou Wolf of Peru.
In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by a granddaughter, Hannah Bailey.
The funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. Friday at Blue River Church of the Brethren, 3040E. 700 North, Columbia City, Rev. Craig Myers, church pastor officiating. The visitation will be from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday at Smith & Sons Funeral Home, Columbia City and one hour before the funeral. The burial will be in Blue River Cemetery, Columbia City.
For those who wish, memorials may be made to Blue River Church of the Brethren Mission Fund.