Anna Bickel

Anna Ruth Bickel, 70, Muncie, our dear wife, mother, grandmother and friend has gone to her Heavenly home to be with her Heavenly Father and the rest of her family who is there. She fought Multiple Sclerosis so bravely for forty years. Throughout her struggles she continued to smile and comfort others, never letting on to the amount of pain she was feeling. Her presence would light up a room. She made friends easily and people didn’t forget her. She was born Saturday, March 6, 1948, in Muncie, the daughter of Earl G. and Mary Helen (Brown) Barber. Anna graduated from Yorktown High School and Ball State University. She taught at DeSoto and Albany Elementary Schools for several years. Anna was a faithful member of Garden at Gethsemane United Methodist Church where she was active in the Acts Group and the Bible Study Fellowship. She was a member of the Indiana Sewing Guild and Indiana Retired Teachers Association. Anna enjoyed sewing and made gifts for veterans and clothing for women in Africa. She loved to read, knit, play her flute and sing. Anna also loved playing and laughing with her grandson, Luke and playing with her dog, Mimi. Survivors include her husband, Dean Bickel; daughter, Joy Bickel (husband Chris) Diebold; sister, Rose Marie (husband Glen) Davis; grandson, Luke Diebold; and many nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents, Earl G. and Mary Helen Barber; three brothers, Gene Barber, Glynn Barber, and Jerry Barber. Services will be held 2:00 p.m. Tuesday, November 27, 2018, at Garden at Gethsemane United Methodist Church, 1201 West McGalliard Road, Muncie, Indiana 47303 with Pastor Vickie Perkins officiating. Burial will follow in Elm Ridge Memorial Park. Family and friends may call from 6:00 until 8:00 p.m. Monday and from 1:00 p.m. until the service at 2:00 p.m. Tuesday at church. Elm Ridge Funeral Home has been entrusted with her arrangements. Memorial contributions may be sent to Garden at Gethsemane United Methodist Church, 1201 West McGalliard Road, Muncie, Indiana 47303. Online condolences to the family may be directed to www.elmridgefuneralhome.com.