Marinel Sprunger

Marinel Kae Sprunger, 81, of Berne passed away unexpectedly and peacefully on Thursday, June 20, 2019 at Lutheran Hospital in Fort Wayne. She was born September 21, 1937 in Adams County to Daniel and Esther (Bauman) Striker. She was married on January 24, 1954 at First Mennonite Church in Berne to Earl Howard Sprunger.

She was a member of the First Mennonite Church and also attended Calvary Bible Church. She enjoyed volunteering at the Swiss Heritage Village in Berne for many years. She served on the committee that was instrumental in establishing the shuffle board courts at the Muselman Wellness Center at Swiss Village. She was self-employed as a painter and wallpaperer for 40 plus years. 

She was a very driven individual, hard-working, wonderful mother, wife, sister, aunt, grandmother, and great grandmother. She enjoyed the family time at the lakes and being outdoors mushroom hunting, gardening, and picking flowers. She also enjoyed her winters in Florida playing bocce, shuffleboard, cards, Mexican dominoes and heading up the annual “fashion show”. Her travels were not limited to Florida. She and her husband traveled worldwide and especially enjoyed their time in Germany. Animals were always a big part of her life and she was active with Operation Charlie Horse, the Arabian horse rescue in Adams County. She was able to adopt one of the rescued horses and continued to ride until she was 78 years old.

She is survived by her husband of Berne; three daughters, Gail (Don) Kuhn; Dana (Gerald) Schwartz; and Kenya (Rod) Habegger, all of Berne; daughter-in-law, Angie Sprunger of Berne; nine grandchildren, David (Audry) Zuercher; Luke (Charlotte) Zuercher; Benjamin (Kate) Zuercher; Timothy (Lisa) Kuhn; Daniel (Heidi) Sprunger; Denise (James) Sprunger; Anie Habegger; Tawnie Habegger; and Heather Brown; and 14 great-grandchildren Jocelyn, Isabelle, Faith, Cort, True, Ottilia, and Samuel Zuercher; Brendon, Colton, Alena, Dakota and Brock Sprunger; and Taylor and Chase Brown.

She was preceded in death by her parents; son, Van Sprunger on December 25, 2014; sister, Shirley Worden; and two brothers, James and Claude Striker.

Visitation will be from 2:00 to 8:00 p.m. on Monday, June 24 and one hour prior to the 10:30 a.m. funeral service on Tuesday, June 25 at Zwick & Jahn Funeral Home, Yager – Kirchhofer Chapel in Berne. Officiating will be Pastor Henry Schaadt and Pastor Mike Wertenberger. Burial will be at MRE Cemetery in Berne.

Memorials may be made to Indiana Resource Center for Autism, Swiss Heritage Village, Calvary Bible Church or First Mennonite Church.

Arrangements provided by Zwick & Jahn Funeral Home, Yager-Kirchhofer Chapel in Berne. To sign the online guestbook, visit www.zwickjahn.com.