Wilma Maxine Plotner

Wilma Maxine Plotner, 92, of The Villages, Florida, went to be with the Lord on Jan. 23, 2025.

She was born March 18,1932, the second of six children, in Worthington, Indiana, to Virgil T. and Lillian V. England. Wilma England graduated from Jimtown High School in 1950, and married Donald L. Plotner, a 1946 graduate of Mishawaka High School, on May 19, 1950. They settled in South Bend, and had four daughters. They moved to Elkhart in 1964, where they built their house on Baugo Creek and raised their four daughters.

Wilma was a stay-at-home mom, but was also involved in many clubs and activities.

She was involved with the Campfire Girls, an Antique Collectors club, a Clock Collectors Club, a Quilting Club and The Happy Cloggers dance group. She was the secretary of the Jimtown Schools PTA and a member of the Jamestown United Methodist Church. She also worked for the Elkhart school system in the library processing department for several years and later became a teacher's assistant in the Jimtown school system. She loved all kids.

Grandchildren were a large part of Wilma's life. Each of her 29 grandkids felt special and loved by their Grandma Wilma. She created lasting memories for them by taking each one of them "birthday shopping" and to lunch on their birthday. It was a special tradition they looked forward to every year.

Wilma had a talent for whistling and could whistle any song, and "talk" to the birds, perfectly mimicking their whistle. She also loved to sew, embroider, crochet and quilt, and taught her daughters how to create many creative projects.

She created many happy memories together with Don and their four daughters, camping in the Smoky Mountains, Rocky Mountains, Indiana Dunes State Park, and many parks, lakes and rivers around the country. After their grandkids came along, many good times were spent exploring nature together from their log cabin in Tennessee, their home on Baugo Creek in Indiana, or their cottage on a small Indiana lake.

Wilma was preceded in death by her husband of 53 years, her five siblings (Tom, Barb, Don, Carolyn and Frank), a daughter, Cindy (Tim) Neely, Osceola, and one granddaughter, Ruth Neely.

Her surviving relatives are three of her daughters, Sandy (Bruce) Clark of The Villages, Florida, Susie Russell of The Villages, and Cheryl (Erick) Evans of Syracuse, Indiana, 28 grandchildren, 91 great-grandchildren, and one great-great-grandchild. There are two surviving brothers-in-law, Tom Plotner of Huntington Beach, California, and Norm Woolet of Wyatt, Indiana, and a sister-in-law, Donna England of St. Petersburg, Florida.

A Celebration of Life will be held for Wilma at the Jimtown Community Center on the corner of C.R. 3 and C.R. 22, in Elkhart, Indiana, from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday, June 14.