Submitted by: Dan Rich
March 29, 1899 - March 20, 1999
South Bend Tibune 3/23/1999
Esther Brown Sanders, 99, formerly of Waite Boulevard and the Milton Home, passed away at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, March 20, in the home of her son where she had resided for the last seven weeks. She was born on a farm near Sidney, Ind., on March 29, 1899. She passed away nine days prior to her 100th birthday celebration.
She was married on July 2, 1921, in Fort Wayne, Ind., to George H. Brown, Sr., who died on Nov. 4, 1942. On April 5, 1947, in Warsaw, Ind., she married Urban Sanders, who died on July 2, 1977. She was also preceded in death by six brothers. She is survived by her son, George H. Brown and his wife Doris; and three grandchildren, Barbara Zimmerman and her husband Richard, and their two sons, John W. and Michael J., all of South Bend, Bruce Brown and his wife Julie, and their daughter, Jessica, all of South Bend, and Brian Brown of Osceola, Ind.
She loved her grandchildren, the staff and residents at the Milton Home, the hospice group and, above all, she loved to play euchre. She was a member of Community Congregational Church, South Bend, and the Ladies Auxiliary at the church. She was a member of the St. Joseph Chapter 569 Order of the Eastern Star where she was awarded her 50-year pin in 1995.
Services for Esther will be at 10 a.m. today in the Welsheimer Funeral Home North, 17033 Cleveland Road, South Bend. Services will be conducted by Ed Erskin. Committal services and burial will be at 2 p.m. on Tuesday in Greenlawn Memorial Park, Fort Wayne, Ind. Friends called from 2 to 4 and 6 to 9 p.m. on Monday in the funeral home. The family has requested that memorial contributions be made to Hospice House of St. Joseph County, 111 Sunnybrook Court, South Bend, IN 46637-3437.