Mabel Mullett

Mabel was born in Elkhart County on the family farm in 1918. Her life spanned many changes from visiting relatives by horse and cart to modern air travel. She grew up during the Depression years, and in 1942 she married Jonas Lorrel Mullett during the Second World War.

All her life she aspired to higher learning and cultural endeavours. She loved music, theatre, and great art. She painted watercolour herself in later years. She traveled extensively with her husband enjoying different cultures, new ideas, viewing great architecture, and making friends in many countries. They lived in seven states and remodeled seventeen houses including one in Puerto Rico.

Mabel’s early education was in Indiana graduating from Topeka High School in 1936. She then took courses at the Fort Wayne Bible College. At fifty years old she decided to continue her education at Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey and received her Master’s Degree from Columbia University in New York. During her career she worked as a social worker and a councillor in New Jersey and an administrative assistant for a Catholic home for the disabled in Florida.

Mabel and Jonas retired to North Carolina where they were very active setting up and managing a Ten Thousand Villages store with the Mennonites and participating in local theatre for many years. She enjoyed many roles. The last was a lead in ‘Arsenic and Old Lace’ when she was eighty-six years old after they had moved back to Fort Wayne. Mabel’s husband passed away in 2005. She then moved to Florida and lived independently until she moved to Georgetowne Place in 2021.

Mabel enjoyed people and loved telling stories. She had a fabulous memory and could quote poetry well past 104 years old. She published a book about her father and growing up in rural Indiana during the Depression years. Each chapter tells of the courage and good will of people during those times. She had a smile for everyone and determination to carry on through life’s challenges. She was an inspiration to others and led an extraordinary life. When asked what her secret was she replied, “Never hold any bitterness.”

Mabel is survived by her daughter Diana, five grandchildren, and six great grandchildren. She is preceded in death by her husband Jonas, and daughter Gilda.

A funeral service for Mabel will be held August 10, 2024 at 11:00 am, with visitation taking place an hour prior, at Maplewood Mennonite Church, 4129 Maplecrest Road, Fort Wayne, IN 46815.

Arrangements entrusted to D.O. McComb and Sons Maplewood Park Funeral Home, 4017 Maplecrest Road, Fort Wayne, IN.