Alma Watkinson

Alma Amanda Watkinson, age 100, of Jackson Center, Ohio, passed away at 5:33 P.M. Monday, March 10, 2014 at Fair Haven Shelby County Home in Sidney, Ohio.

She was born in Marion, Ohio March 26, 1913, to the late Rev. Fred and Anna M. (Pfeiffer) Duerr. On November 19, 1932, she married Sam Watkinson and he preceded her in death July 17, 1988. She was also preceded in death by two sisters and four brothers.

Alma is survived by a daughter, Beverly Ann (Gerald “Jerry”) Ryder of Jackson Center; three grandchildren, Michael (Katherine) Ryder of Las Vegas, Nevada, Susan (Steven) Bauer of Wapakoneta, Ohio and Steven (Mary) Ryder of Jackson Center; five great grandchildren, Eric and Mikayla Ryder, Hannah Littlejohn and Katie (Greg) Diller and four great-great grandchildren, Mason, Garrett, Easton and Kale Diller.

A 1930 graduate of Harding High School in Marion, Ohio, she was baptized, confirmed and married in the Emanuel Lutheran Church in Marion. Before moving to Jackson Center in 1989, she was an active fifty year member of the Clinton Heights Lutheran Church in Columbus. She served on the Church Council, Evangelism Committee, Calling Committee and Finance. Alma retired in 1974 after serving as secretary at the Clinton Heights Lutheran Church for twenty five years. She transferred her membership to the Grace Lutheran Church in Jackson Center May 14, 1990. While at Grace, she was a member of Circle 1, volunteered in Sidney, and was active in the Jackson Center Senior Citizens.

Pastor Kent Hollis will officiate the funeral service at 11:00 A.M. Friday, March 14, 2014, at the Grace Lutheran Church in Jackson Center. Visitation will be one hour prior to the funeral. Interment will be at the Union Cemetery in Columbus, Ohio.

The funeral arrangements were in the care of the staff of the Eichholtz Daring & Sanford Funeral Home in Jackson Center.