Dortha Mae Marsh

Dortha Mae (Gipe) Marsh, 96, died peacefully at Timbercrest Senior Living Community in North Manchester, IN, surrounded by loving family on December 14, 2025.

Dortha Mae was born on January 28, 1929, in Thorncreek Township to Earl and Zora (Shock) Gipe. She grew up with her six siblings on the "homeplace" north of Columbia City, IN, on State Route 9. Dortha Mae was a 1947 graduate of Columbia City High School, worked at the downtown Columbia Theatre, and served as a legal secretary in the Bloom, Bloom, and Fleck Law Offices for 30 years before retiring in 1994.

She was preceded in death by her husbands, Robert Russell Gradeless, Robert Earl Cooper, and Howard James Marsh.

Dortha Mae was a long-term member of the Homemakers Club, a volunteer at the Life Center, and, in later years, attended Zion Lutheran Church, all located in her lifelong hometown of Columbia City. In life, she enjoyed Bible study, playing the organ and piano, gardening, lake recreation, dancing, and, most especially, get-togethers with her Gipe family relatives.

Survivors include two sons, Steve (Jeannine) Gradeless, Dublin, OH, and Chuck Cooper, Columbia City; three step-daughters, Carol Foster, Reno, NV, Cindy Conner, Columbia City, IN, and Roxanne Squires, Warsaw, IN; a step-son, Brian Marsh, Red Lodge, MT; and numerous grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces, and nephews.

Dortha Mae was also preceded in death by her parents; four sisters Evelyn (Charles) Tolliver, Eileen (Jack) Fox, Helen (Earl) Hazen, Bonita (Bob) Miller, Carol (Jim) Bower; brother Bill (Sandy) Gipe; daughter Ramona Lynn (Gradeless) Wood; step-sons Jerry (Charlene) Cooper, Larry Cooper, and Roger Cooper; and step-sons-in-law Bill Foster and Dale Conner.

Visitation is 2 to 5 p.m. Saturday (Dec 27th) at Smith & Sons Funeral Home, Columbia City. The funeral service is 2 p.m. Sunday (Dec. 28th) at the funeral home, followed by interment at Greenhill Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks for memorial donations to the Alzheimer's Association: www.alz.org.