Memorials

Marie E. Jones, 90, a former resident of Churubusco and Fort Wayne and more recently of Columbia City, died at 4:15 p. m. on Friday, May 29, 2009, at Miller’s Merry Manor in Columbia City following a lengthy illness.

Mrs. Jones was born in Thorncreek Township in Whitley County on February 11, 1919, and spent her formative years there.  On June 18, 1938, she was married in Columbia City to Virgil W. Jones.  She lived in Fort Wayne from 1941 until 1985 when she moved to Churubusco.

Employed in the cafeteria at ARA Food Services in Fort Wayne, she retired from there in 1984 after 15 years.  She volunteered as a chaplain’s assistant at Whitley County Hospital for several years, and had been a dedicated volunteer for the Whitley County Health Department’s Well Child Clinic.  In 1998, she received a Whitley County Heart of Gold award for her years of volunteer service.

In addition, she had worked as an attendant at the Sheets & Childs Funeral Home in Churubusco for 13 years until moving to Columbia City in 1998.

She was a member of Believer’s Bible Fellowship in Churubusco, the Green Township Home Economics Club, and had also attended the Columbia City Church of the Nazarene.  Her quiet and unassuming spirit of love and devotion will always be remembered by her family and all who knew her.

Mr. Jones preceded her in death unexpectedly on May 14, 1958.

The surviving relatives include her daughters Sue (Bill) Lewis of Churubusco, Marilyn Messmann of Columbia City and Sharon (Ron) Kelley of Deep Gap, North Carolina; a brother Marshall Smith of Columbia City; seven grandchildren, three step-grandchildren, ten great-grandchildren, eight step-great-grandchildren, and two step-great-great-grandchildren.

In addition to her parents and husband, she was preceded in death by two sisters Mildred Downing and Mabel L. Smith; and by a son-in-law Dennis Messmann.

Funeral services were held June 2, 2009, at the Sheets & Childs Funeral Home in Churubusco with Pastor Rick Van Horn, officiating. Interment was in the Nolt Cemetery, Columbia Township.

For those who wish, memorials may be directed to the Whitley County Well Child Clinic or to Parkview Home Health & Hospice.