Obituary index

Charlotte Key

[June 25, 2010]  ELKHART -- Charlotte V. Key, 94, of Elkhart, died Wednesday, June 23, 2010, at 1:48 a.m. at Memorial Medical Center in Springfield.

Her funeral will be at 12:30 p.m. Monday at the First Presbyterian Church in Lincoln, with the Rev. Phillip Blackburn officiating. Visitation will be one hour prior to the service.

Burial will be in Camp Butler National Cemetery, Springfield.

Arrangements are by Fricke-Calvert-Schrader Funeral Home in Lincoln.

Mrs. Key was a retired nurse. She and her husband farmed for a total of 40 years.

She was born April 1, 1916, in Springfield. Her parents were Logan and Mary Hall Edwards. She married Marshall Key on Sept. 21, 1938, in Joliet. He preceded her in death on Feb. 3, 1999.

She is survived by her caregiver, Vera Humphries of Elkhart; and nephews and nieces Merle D. (and Joyce) Key of Winter Haven, Fla., David "Bear" (and Margaret) Edwards of Beason, Roger (and Sue) Key of Zion, Stanley Key of Spokane, Wash., Karen (and Richard) Liebnow of Wheaton, Janet (and Richard) Schuda of Wheaton, Sue Ellen Carlson of Joliet, Marcia (and John) Grabavoy of Joliet, Donna Billings of Joliet, Merle A. (and Dana) Gazelle of Texas, Mary Catherine Bland of Lincoln, James R. Edwards of Beason and Marilyn Jackson, address unknown.

She was also preceded in death by one brother, Eugene Edwards, and nephews David Hirsch, and Robert, Robin and Carl Key. She was the last of her immediate family.

Charlotte and her husband lived in Joliet from 1938 to 1944, and she was a public health nurse for the city of Joliet and a general nurse. In 1944 she and her husband moved to Fort McMullen in Alabama while he was in the Army, and she worked for the colonel’s family and was a nurse at the fort. In 1946 she and her husband moved to Beason, where they farmed until 1956, and she was a private-duty nurse in Clinton and Lincoln during that time. In 1957 they moved to Elkhart. Charlotte worked at Lincoln Developmental Center for 27 years as a supervising nurse, retiring in December of 1985.

She was a member of the First Presbyterian Church in Lincoln, Daughters of the American Revolution 351 and Eastern Star 218 in Springfield.

She was valedictorian of the Lincoln Community High School Class of 1935 and graduated from Springfield School of Nursing on Sept. 21, 1938.

Charlotte loved the fact that she had been able to travel to all 50 states and made a trip to continental Europe.

Memorials may be made to the First Presbyterian Church in Lincoln or Elkhart Fire and Rescue.

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