Submitted by: Dan Rich
Aug. 13, 1916 - June 4, 1998
South Bend Tribune 6/5/1998
ELKHART - Ralph Leonard Gentle, 81,
residing on Kentucky Avenue, Elkhart, Ind., passed away at 12:30
a.m. on Thursday, June 4, at the St. Joseph Medical Center, South
Bend, Ind.
Mr. Gentle was employed for 58 years as a
supervisor of bottle shops at brewing companies in Cleveland,
Ohio, Drewry's of South Bend, and the G. Heilimen Company in
Sheboygan and LaCrosse, Wis. He retired from the G. Heilimen
Company in May 1978. Mr. Gentle was also the co-owner of The
United Consumers Club in Goshen, Ind., until May 1988. He had
lived in this area since 1960. Ralph was born on August 13, 1916,
in Cleveland, Ohio, to the late Edward and Isabella (Andrews)
Gentle. He was also preceded in death by a son, Edward C. Gentle
in 1942; and by a brother, Edward Gentle in 1986.
On April 23, 1938, in Cleveland, he married
Margaret V. Schetler, who survives. He is also survived by
a daughter, Virginia C. (James) Wery of Osceola, Ind.; a
son, Ralph D. (Bonnie) Gentle of Goshen; five grandchildren,
Gerald A. (Lisa) Gentle of Moontownship, Pa., Jeffrey J. (Nancy)
Wery of Granger, Ind., Brian W. (Shari) Wery of Wilson, Mich.,
Donna L. (Mark) Griffen of Eaton, Ohio, and Donald L.
Gentle of North Carolina; and by ten great-grandchildren, Tara
Wery, Cassandra Wery, Andy Wery, Shane Wery, Andy Gentle, Sean
Gentle, Gabrella Griffen, Jamie Cashen, Nick Cashen and
Adam Cashen.
Mr. Gentle was a United States Navy veteran
of World War II, a member of the Masonic Lodge F & AM in
Cleveland, and attended the Osceola United Methodist Church.
Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. on
Saturday, June 6, at the Palmer Funeral Home, 1109 Lincolnway
West, Osceola. Rev. Brian L. Beeks, pastor of the church, will
officiate. Entombment will follow in Riverview Cemetery, South
Bend. Friends may call from 4 to 8 p.m. today in the Palmer
Funeral Home in Osceola. Contributions may be made to the church
in Ralph's memory.