Sara E. Gartin

Sara E. Gartin, 76, of Bluffton passed away Monday morning, October 16, 2017, at River Terrace Estates in Bluffton. Sara was born on August 24, 1941 in Bedford, Indiana to Frank O. & Martha Louise (Austin) Sanders. She was a 1959 graduate of Carmel High School and earned her B.S. in Bacterial Microbiology from Indiana University in Bloomington. She was also a member of the Alpha Xi Delta at IU. Sara completed her Masters of Library Sciences from the University of Maryland. She worked as the Army Base Librarian at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri, before moving to Bluffton in 1990 to work at the Wells County Public Library. Sara retired in 2007 as the Co-Director and Systems Director of the Library. She was a member of First United Methodist Church and was active in United Methodist Women. She was also a faithful member of the Kiwanis Club of Greater Bluffton. While she was always a Hoosier in her heart, not long after graduating from Indiana University she began traveling the world and living in such places as Japan, Thailand, and Turkey before returning to the US and settling once again in Indiana. A lover of the arts with a thirst for information she studied Ikebana, the Japanese art of Flowering arranging while living in Japan and was one of the first foreigners to be designated a master of Ikebana. She continued this love of flowers through-out the rest of her life, often showing her designs at the Bluffton Street Fair another of her favorite things. Sara is survived by three sons: John (Barbara) Gartin of Flagstaff, AZ, Edmund (Kelly) Gartin of Barrington, RI, and Andrew (Kelly) Gartin of Montpelier, IN, along with 3 grandchildren: Leah, Keith & Lilly Gartin, along with a sister Kathryn “Kitty” (Bob) Myers of Lapel, IN. A service to celebrate Sara’s life will be at 10:30 A.M. on Thursday (October 19, 2017) at the First United Methodist Church. Rev. Steve Bard will officiate. Friends are invited to visit with the family from 4 to 8 P.M. on Wednesday at the Thoma/Rich, Lemler Funeral Home in Bluffton. Burial will take place at the Carmel Cemetery in Carmel, Indiana. Memorials may be made to the Wells County Public Library. Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to the care of the Thoma/Rich, Lemler Funeral Home in Bluffton. Friends can send online condolences to the family at www.thomarich.com

Sara E. Gartin

August 24, 1941 - October 16, 2017