Mary Arlene Bontrager peacefully passed away at her home in Bonduel on Saturday, Sept. 2, 2017.
She leaves behind her grieving husband, Ivan Bontrager, whom she married Dec. 25, 1969; her son, Lester and Verna (Miller) Bontrager; grandchildren, Jeremy, Kyle and Hannah, Julie, Mary Kaylene and Caleb Bontrager, all of Bonduel. She also leaves behind her siblings, Edna Mae (Atlee, deceased) Miller, LaGrange, Indiana; Mervin and Becky Byler, Wolcottville, Indiana; Leanna and Melvin Yoder, LaGrange, Indiana; Luella and Mervin Miller, LaGrange, Indiana; Ruth and Aaron Miller, Ligonier, Indiana; Velma and Perry Yoder, Topeka, Indiana; and Vernon and Edna Fern Byler, Topeka, Indiana. Her husband’s siblings include Ora (Alma, deceased) Bontrager, Keosoqua, Iowa; Elizabeth (Ervin, deceased) Lehman, Goshen, Indiana; Ida and Dan Miller, Topeka, Indiana; Martha (Elmer, deceased) Yoder, Oblong, Illinois; Gertie (deceased) and Mervin Eash, Shipshewana, Indiana; Ola Knepp, deceased; Ezra and Rosa Bontrager, Bonduel; and Dorothy and Andy Miller, LaGrange, Indiana; and a multitude of other relatives and friends.
Her parents, Lester and Ella (Miller) Byler, and parents-in-law, Harry and Polly (Miller) Bontrager, preceded her in death.
Arlene was first and foremost a child of God, and she proved it by her life and death. She taught school for much of her adult life, finishing her final term at Little Pilgrim Academy in Cecil in April 2017. She leaves behind a host of former students who have benefited from her labors. Arlene, by example, taught us how to be joyful in affliction and patient in tribulation, and in all things lived holy and blamelessly in this present world. She will be sorely missed, but we rejoice in her gain.
Funeral services for Arlene will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, Sept. 8, 2017, at Hope Community Church in Shawano with Brother Stephen Hargrave officiating. Burial will be in the Valley View Cemetery. Visitation will be held at the church on Thursday, Sept. 7, 2017, from 4-8 p.m. and again on Friday from 9 a.m. until the time of the service.
Swedberg Funeral Home is assisting the family with the arrangements.