Grace Alice (Butts) Gresham, 91, passed away on Wednesday morning, Dec. 30, 2015, at Salem Crossing in Salem, from natural causes.
She was born the daughter of Floyd and Clara (Schwenk) Butts on Jan. 12, 1924, in South Bend.
She graduated from South Bend Central Senior High School in June 1942 and married Lloyd Richard “Dick” Gresham of Bremen, Indiana on May 3, 1947. The couple had enjoyed 51 years of marriage when Dick passed in 1998.
She is survived by the couple’s four children: Mary (Gresham) Donovan of Bloomington; Don Gresham of Lafayette; Judith (Gresham) Rumschlag of Salem; and David Gresham of Indianapolis. Also surviving her are eight grandchildren; a stepgranddaughter; three great-grandchildren; and her sister, Marilyn (Butts) Phillips of Venice, Fla.
For most of her married life she lived on the couple’s family farm near Bremen. In addition to being a farm wife and mother, she was a Civil Service retiree having worked for both the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S Postal Service. She retired in November 1985 after being employed as a clerk with the U.S. Post Office in Bremen, for 20 years. She was also a long time member of St. John United Church of Christ in Woodland.
After retirement she lived at several senior communities including Zionsville Meadows in Zionsville; Brownsburg Meadows in Brownsburg; and Salem Crossing in Salem. Her joys included travel, music, and time with her family.
Funeral service will be at noon Thursday, Jan. 7, at Mishler Funeral Home, 2030 SR 331, Bremen. Friends may call at the funeral home from 10 a.m. to noon before the service. Pastor Jo An Schaetzle will officiate. Burial will follow the service at St. John United Church of Christ Cemetery, in Woodland, Indiana.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Parkinson’s Foundation or to St. John United Church of Christ, Woodland.