Submitted by: Dan Rich

Elizabeth E. Bucklen

June 21, 1914 - Jan. 6, 2003

The Elkhart Truth, Tuesday, January 7, 2003

ELKHART - Elizabeth Eberhart Bucklen, 88, formerly of 2 Holly Lane, died at 6:50 p.m. Monday (Jan. 6, 2003) at Valley View Healthcare Center.

She was born June 21, 1914, in Mishawaka, to George W. and Donna (Eberhart) Blair. She married Herbert E. Bucklen III on Aug. 14, 1937. He died March 13, 1992.

Surviving are one daughter, Mrs. Robert P. (Anne) Johnston of Alamo, Calif.; one son, George (Patsy) Bucklen of Bristol; five grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

One grandson, George McDaniel Bucklen, and one brother, George W. Blair Jr., preceded her in death.

Friends may call from 4 to 7 p.m. Friday at the Hartzler-Gutermuth-Inman Funeral Home. Services will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at St. John's of the Cross Episcopal Church in Bristol. The Rev. George Minnix will officiate. Burial will follow at Redfield-Bucklen Farm Cemetery.

Mrs. Bucklen was a homemaker. She was a graduate of Principia Upper School in St. Louis and attended Northwestern University and Katherine Gibbs in New York. She belonged to St. John's Episcopal Church in Elkhart, the Elcona Country Club, Tri Kappa, Kappa Kappa Gamma, Signal Point in Niles, Mich., the Progress Club, the Indiana Historical Society and the Northern Indiana Center for History.

She and her husband came from prominent area families. Her great-grandfather, Adolphus Eberhart, founded Ball Band Company (later called Uniroyal) in the early 1800s. Her husband's grandfather built the Bucklen Opera House in Elkhart. Her husband's father founded what became Durakool, a manufacturer of switches and relays.

Memorials may be given to the Northern Illinois Historical Foundation of the charity of one's choice.