Mrs. Verla Wood Harrer

Verla Wood Harrer, 86, passed away July 6, 2012. She was born March 10, 1926 in Madison WI, to James A. and Etta (Calvin) Wood. The family soon moved to Indiana--first to Bloomington and then shortly to Spencer, where Verla grew up. She graduated from Spencer High School and then commuted to Indiana University at Bloomington where she graduated in 1952 with a BA Degree in Literature and Library Science. Before and during her college career she worked at Spencer Evening World.

On July 20, 1952 she and Wilbur J. Harrer were married in the Spencer United Methodist Church where they had met. For the next 10 years they operated the fruit and poultry farm in northern Owen County, near Cataract Falls, where Wilbur had grown up. In 1961, seeking better economic opportunities, they moved to Indianapolis with their two children, Julie and Steve. Verla was active in Tri Kappa Sorority at Spencer and Indianapolis. She was a member of St. Luke's United Methodist Church.

She is survived by her husband of 59 plus years; daughter, Julie (Jeff) May; three grandchildren, Chad, Christopher, and Brooke Salla; three nephews, Jerry, Brad, and Jim Wood; four nieces, Janet Evans, Carole Gray, Charlotte Wood, and Cheryl Finnell and many grand nephews and nieces, and former son-in-law Dave Salla. She was preceded in death by her parents; son Steve; brothers, Paul (Gus), James (Oneil) Wood, and a toddler brother; a nephew Don Wood, two nieces, Rosemary Franklin and Phyllis Coffey.