Helenann “Bunny” G. Jefferson, 88, Fort Wayne, died at 1:50 p.m. on Tuesday, December 20, 2016, at Park Place Senior Living in Fort Wayne. She was born in Marion to the late Alfred “A.J.” and Mary (Pealer) Glasser. On June 15, 1974, Bunny married Millard “Jeff” Jefferson, and they shared 34 years together until he passed on April 5, 2009.
Bunny was a graduate of St. Paul High School and attended Marian College and Indiana Business College. She was employed by the Department of the Army (Signal Corp) in California and Alaska during the Korean War and also worked at Anaconda-Ericsson in Marion, where she retired as an executive secretary.
The mental health community was a significant part of Bunny’s life. She was a charter member of the Alliance for the Mentally Ill for Grant and Blackford counties, and she served on the State Board for the Indiana Alliance for the Mentally Ill, Board of Directors for Grant-Blackford Mental Health, Inc., and Board of Directors for HUD IV for Grant-Blackford Mental Health, Inc. Bunny was also a volunteer at Cornerstone Treatment Center and, in 1996, was elected Volunteer of the Year by the Grant County Council of Social Service Agencies.
She was very instrumental in reorganizing the Marion Chapter of Compassionate Friends and held additional memberships with Marion General Hospital Auxiliary, Hostess House, Grant County Literacy Council, YMCA, and Gethsemane Episcopal Church.
Loved ones to cherish Bunny’s memory include her son, Daniel J. (Denisa) Nelson, Fort Wayne; step-daughter, Sandra (James) Chandler, Cumberland; grandchildren, Ashley Chandler and Devon Nelson; and sister, Jayne Galligan.
In addition to her parents and husband, she was preceded in death by a son, David L. Nelson; daughter, Jeri J. Nelson; and step-son, Gregory Jefferson.
Friends and family may call from 4-8 p.m. on Thursday, December 22, 2016, at Needham-Storey-Wampner Funeral Service, North Chapel, 1341 N. Baldwin Ave., Marion, IN.
Services to celebrate Bunny’s life are at 11:30 a.m. on Friday, December 23, 2016, at Gethsemane Episcopal Church, 111 E. 9th St., Marion, IN, with Father Jim Warnock officiating. Burial will follow at Marion National Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial contributions be made to Gethsemane Episcopal Church.
Online condolences may be made at www.nswcares.com.