Elma Grace Ingram Abbott, 90, Winona Lake, passed away at 10:28 p.m. March 5, 2014, at Grace Village Health Care of Winona Lake. She was born July 23, 1923, in College Springs, Iowa, to George Benton and Elma Fine Ingram. On Dec. 25, 1941, she married Alvon Dale Abbott, who survives in Winona Lake. Prior to moving to Grace Village Retirement Community, she lived since 1967 in the Circle Drive neighborhood of Warsaw with close friends and neighbors Mary Lois Swain, Gracie Freeman and Irene Golden. She had worked for Little Crow Foods and Rockhill law firm, both of Warsaw, as well as having worked as a creative writer for 22 years for the Free Methodist Headquarters, then in Winona Lake, from which she retired in 1988. She had been a member of Winona Lake Free Methodist Church since 1941, where she taught Sunday school classes for more than 40 years. She served in various capacities in Christian education across the years; was a member and former vice president of Winona Literary Club; member of Book Club; and active in the Red Hat Society. For more than 10 years she was a volunteer tutor for Kosciusko Literacy Services and executive director for five years when it was Kosciusko Literacy Volunteers Association. Most of all, she was a daughter of the King and is now at rest in His presence where she awaits the rest of her family and friends. She will be lovingly remembered. Also surviving are two sons, Stephen (and spouse Paula) Abbott, Fishers, and Phillip (and spouse Lydia) Abbott, Lenexa, Kan.; one daughter, Sandra (and spouse Sam) Bowling, Pierceton; six grandchildren; nine great-grandchildren; and countless loved ones. She was preceded in death by her parents, four siblings and one granddaughter. Services will be at 1 p.m. Saturday at Winona Lake Free Methodist Church, 902 College Ave., Winona Lake, with Pastor Roland Kramer officiating. Burial is in Oakwood Cemetery, Warsaw. Calling is from 2 to 5 p.m. Friday at Redpath-Fruth Funeral Home, 225 Argonne Road, Warsaw. ***** Memorials to Winona Lake Free Methodist Church, 902 College Ave., Winona Lake, IN 46590. Condolences may be sent via www.redpathfruthfuneralhome.com
