Eloise W. Eberly, 93, North Manchester, Indiana, passed away October 10, 2020 at Timbercrest Healthcare Center, North Manchester, Indiana. The oldest of two children, Eloise was born April 28, 1927 in Warsaw, Indiana, to farmers Earl and Lois (Roose) Whitehead.
After graduating from North Webster High School in 1944, Eloise went on to graduate from Manchester College with a Bachelors of Art degree in Education in 1948 and later from Ball State University where she received her Master’s. In both high school and at Manchester College Eloise participated in band, choir, plays, and girls’ basketball. Eloise enjoyed playing the clarinet and marimba.
It was at a youth camp at Camp Alexander Mack, where Eloise met William Robert Eberly. The two were married on June 30, 1946 in the North Winona Church of the Brethren. They were married for sixty-five years before the sudden passing of Dr. William Robert Eberly on July 28, 2011. During their blissful marriage, they went camping and traveled throughout the United States, including Hawaii and Alaska. They also traveled to Mexico, Canada, most of Western Europe, Scandinavia, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic, but her favorite places were Germany and Switzerland. Until the girls were in high school, they spent every Friday evening doing “something special as a family.”
Eloise was a Middle School teacher for many years, teaching mostly in the Tippy Valley school system. She loved the opportunity to make a positive impact on children’s lives. It was her thoughtful and caring personality that made Eloise special to so many. For many years Eloise would send card ministries to people. She would send fifteen to twenty cards a week to people for their birthdays, anniversaries, and for people that needed something special to get them through the upcoming times.
Eloise was a person with many interests and hobbies that included counted cross-stitch and other needle work, cake decorating, reading, music, entertaining, sight-seeing, reading, but she loved fellowshipping and participating in many church activities at Manchester Church of the Brethren, where she was a member.
The loving memory of Eloise Whitehead Eberly will be forever cherished by her daughters, Diana (Barry) Bucher, North Manchester, Brenda (Tom) Horein, Elkhart, Indiana, and Sandy (John) Wenger, Harrisonburg, Virginia; sister, Marietta Miller, Claypool, Indiana; ten grandchildren; and nineteen great-grandchildren; her countless friends at Timbercrest and Manchester Church of the Brethren. Eloise was preceded in death by her parents, and husband, Dr. William Robert Eberly.
A Celebration of Life service will be November 15, 2020 at 3:00 p.m. A link will be provided closer to service time for people to be able to watch the service live. Pastor Kurt Borgmann and Pastor Amy S. Gall Ritchie will officiate. Burial will be at Oaklawn Cemetery, 600 Beckley Street, North Manchester, Indiana, at a later date.
For those who wish to honor the memory of Eloise Eberly, memorial contributions may be made to Timbercrest Charitable Assistance Fund, P.O. Box 501. North Manchester, Indiana 46962 or Manchester Church of the Brethren, 1306 North Beckley Street, North Manchester, Indiana 46962.