Elsie Beth Sutter McClanahan, 101, who most recently lived in Maitland, Florida, passed away Thursday, July 9, 2020. She was born in Lovington, Illinois, lived much of her life in Indianapolis, Indiana, and resided for a time in West Virginia and several cities in Florida, including Deltona, Lake Worth and Apopka.
A graduate of Emmerich Manual High School in Indianapolis who studied for a year at Emmanuel Missionary College (now Andrews University), Elsie was a nearly lifelong member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. She married Lowell McClanahan on May 29, 1940, and the couple had three children. Lowell passed in 2010.
Elsie was a homemaker with excellent sewing skills that contributed to the family’s wardrobe in earlier years and “Bags of Love” that supported children in foster care more recently. She had two sisters, Loree Sutter Bossingham and Anabel Sutter Lowery, and a brother, Robert Sutter, all of whom preceded her in death. Robert died in World War II’s Battle of the Bulge.
Her passing is mourned by her children, Janice Elaine Williams (Victor), Marilyn Jean Clark-Kuba (Michael), and Kevin Lowell McClanahan (Virginia). Also mourning are her eight grandchildren, Christian Williams (Catherine), Kurstin Williams (Teresa), Matthew Clark, Mark Clark, Luke Clark (Kelly), Jennifer Clark Nyce (Steven), Brian Gentile (Michele), and Tracy Gentile Robinson (Stuart). Elsie had 10 great-grandchildren who loved her dearly: Donovan Williams, Sawyer Clark, Alice Clark, Eloise Clark, Braden Nyce, Grayson Nyce, Tate Nyce, Austin Gentile, Aiden Gentile and Rylee Robinson. Family from Illinois to Indiana and North Carolina have expressed their condolences.
Elsie and Lowell were known among family and friends as Gommy and Gompy, monikers provided by their first grandchild, Christian.
Burial will be on Friday, July 17 at the Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell, Florida, with arrangements coordinated by Baldwin-Fairchild Funeral Home – West Altamonte Chapel. Because travel is restricted by COVID-19, the family plans to gather for a memorial service at a future date.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests contributions be made to Adventist Development and Relief Agency International (ADRA), 12501 Old Columbia Pike, Silver Spring, MD 20904, or AdventHealth Hospice Care via AdventHealth Foundation Central Florida, 550 East Rollins Street, Sixth Floor, Orlando, FL 32803.
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