Stephen Abshire

Stephen J. Abshire, 65, a resident of Columbia City and formerly of Churubusco, passed away at 3:14 p. m. on Monday, May 22, 2012, at Parkview Regional Medical Center in Fort Wayne.e He had been seriously ill since last August. Mr. Abshire was born on March 28, 1947 in Bloomington, a son of Roy E. and Dorthea L. (Stagg) Abshire, ande spent part of his formative years in Brown County.e He moved to Tipton as a teenager and graduated from Tipton High School in 1966. On November 20, 1981 he was married in Churubusco to Bonita "Nita" Romine.e The couple lived in Fort Wayne, Churubusco, and Yoder before moving to their present home in Columbia City in 2007. Employed as a bus driver for CitiLink in Fort Wayne for ten years, he retired from there in 2007 due to ill health.e He was a member of the Fraternal Order of Eagles in Waynedale, the American Legion, and the Amalgamated Transit Union 682. The surviving relatives include his loving wife Bonita "Nita" (Romine) Abshire; his two daughters Corina (Steve) Fletcher of Hartford City and Linda (Robert) Law of Washington, West Virg; a step-son Jamey (Courtney) Gordon of Westfield; his mother-in-law Edith M. Romine of Knapp Lake; a sister-in-law Linda (John) Barrett of Churubusco; a nephew Bobby Abshire of Marion; and seven grandchildren. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by a sister Judith Ricks;e his father-in-law Leo E. Romine on July 7, 1979; and a sister-in-law Beverly Jean Gordon on June 17, 2008. Memorial services will be held at 7 p. m. on Thursday, June 21, 2012, at the Sheets & Childs Funeral Home in Churubusco with Rev. Corinne Boruff-Stucker, pastor of Churubusco United Methodist Church, officiating. The family will receive friends at the funeral home after 5 p. m. on Thursday until the time of the service. For those who wish, memorials may be directed to the American Diabetes Association,e P. O. Box 1130, Fairfax, Virginia 22038-1130 ****************************************