Elsa Irma Fetters

Elsa Irma Fetters passed away peacefully on Monday, July 21st, 2025, two weeks after celebrating her 101st birthday surrounded by family, friends, and her wonderful caretakers at Story Cottage in Carmel, Indiana.

Born on July 8th, 1924, in New Haven, Connecticut, Elsa was the only child of William and Elsie (Hegel) Fasser. Raised just a few blocks from the Atlantic Ocean, Elsa developed a lifelong love of the ocean and lighthouses.

After graduating from West Haven High School in 1942, Elsa attended Framingham State University in Massachusetts where she received her degree as a registered nurse. Elsa then moved across the country to San Francisco to join the U.S. Nurse Corps where she met Dr. Max Eugene Fetters, who was serving in the U.S. Army Dental Corps at Ft. Ord. They married in West Haven, Connecticut in 1955. The first two years of their marriage were spent at Fort Ord in California, where their eldest daughter Janine Patricia was born, and they spent the following year in Napa, California before settling in Max’s home state of Indiana where they had children Clifford William and Carolyn Rose.

Elsa stopped working as a nurse once she became a mother but never lost her dedication to public service and volunteered extensively through the Red Cross, Wood Youth Center, and Crossroads, and was at one point named Fort Wayne’s Volunteer of the Year. She was also an active member of Trinity English Lutheran Church and cherished her weekly bible study. In her free time she loved to read, paint, and travel the world, which she documented extensively through scrapbooks.

Elsa was a beloved wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, and a friend to everyone she met who will be remembered for her kindness, gentle spirit, and sly sense of humor. She is survived by her three children, Janine Fetters, Dr. Clifford Fetters, and Carolyn Dvorak; grandchildren Michael (Stephanie), Gabrielle, Mitchell, Cooper, Blake, Austin, and Nicholas; and two great-grandchildren, Jackson and Tyson.

Funeral service will be held on Saturday, July 26th at Leppert Funeral Services (740 East 86th Street, Nora, IN 46240) at 12:00pm with visitation beginning at 10:00am until time of service. Private burial to follow at Six Mile Cemetery in Bluffton, IN.