Ethel Grace Mathias

April 16, 2012

Neal's Funeral Home
306 S Walnut St.
Osgood, IN 47037
812-689-4262

Ethel (Kohlerman) Mathias, age 107, formerly of Dillsboro, Indiana, passed away Sunday, April 15, 2012 at Saint Andrews Health Campus in Batesville, Indiana. She was born January 24, 1905, on Dutch Row in Milan, IN , the middle child of Ella Drucilla (Jarman) and Louis Kohlerman. She attended Moores Hill School. Then in 1929, she attended Hanover College, where she earned her teaching degree in Social Studies, English and Physical Education . Ethel taught at Otter Creek near Terre Haute, and also in the Dillsboro and Versailles school systems. On June 18, 1933 she married Hubert Mathias at the president's house on the Hanover College campus. They farmed, owned and operated the Don-A-Motel on US 50 in Dillsboro, named after their two children, Donald Mathias and Ada (Mathias) Morris.

Mrs Mathias was a member of several organizations. She was a a seventy year member of Farm Bureau and Farm Bureau Women's leader district ten for twelve years . She also was a member of DAR, Golden Rule, and a charter member of the Milan IY, the Osgood Fidelity Rebekah Lodge # 116 and the Osgood Odd Fellows and the Indiana Retired Teacher Association.

She was very interested in current events. She loved to debate politics. She wrote and published a book about her life called "The Life of a Centenarian" in 2009 and was honored to present a copy to President George H. W. Bush in 2010.

She is survived by her son, Donald and her daughter-in-law, Alice Mathias; grandsons, Donald Jr. (wife Julie), Dillsboro and Philip Morris, Crossville, Tennessee; grand-daughters, Elizabeth Saffran (husband Kenneth), Chesterton, Indiana and Cathy Hamm(husband Duke), Batesville; six great grandsons and three great grandaughters.

In addition to her parents, Ethel is also preceded in death by her brother, Ercel Kohlerman and sister Ada Busteed; her daughter Ada Morris and son-in-law, Kenneth Morris.

Visitation will be Wednesday, April 18, 2012 from 11:00 am- 1:00 pm at Neal's Funeral Home . The funeral will follow at 1:00 pm also at the funeral home. Pastor Mike Cantrell of the Versailles Baptist Church will be officiating. Burial will be at Riverview Cemetery, Aurora, Indiana.

Memorials gifts may be made to the National MS Society and sent to Neal's Funeral Home.

http://www.nealsfuneralhome.net/