Marie Pettet

Rensselaer resident Marie Pettet, age 99, passed away at the Rensselaer Care Center on May 16, 2017. Hazel Marie Pettet, nee Studer, was born in Conrad, Indiana on July 2, 1917, the seventh child of Lettie Mae Eastwood and the fifth child of Emil Gustave Studer. Lettie first married Otto Studer, brother of Gustave, and together they had two children, Ernest and Essie. Not uncommon and biblical, Gustave married Lettie after his brother’s death. Together they were the parents of Andrew, Clara, Lloyd, Forrest and Hazel. At the age of 15, Marie met the love of her life, John F. Pettet Jr., when her mother sent her to the store in Kniman for some cold cuts and bread when unexpected company had arrived. With Marie being the tender age of 18 years and 4 days, they eloped to Kankakee, Illinois, returning to their respective homes as John was only 20 years and 7 months which was under the legal age for marriage in Indiana. After a few weeks apart her mother and his father told their spouses of the secret marriage of Marie and John and to get over being upset about it. Marie and John started married life in the Kniman area and later moved to Barkley Township where they were active in the church and the community club. They worked side by side, driving school busses, farming, milking cows and raising two children, Judith Marie and John Roger. The couple celebrated 51 years together before John’s death in 1986. In the year of their 25th Anniversary, Judy married Donald Smith and John Roger married Helen Tilton. Within four years they were elated to become grandparents of Sharon Sue (Randy) Pettet Hart, Jeffery (Nancy) Smith, Marianne (Tom) Pettet Shields, Annette (Victor) Smith Mattocks, Roger Bruce (Becky) Pettet and Julie (Mark) Smith Hunsley. Marie was proud that the six grandchildren presented 14 great-grandchildren and 20 great-great grandchildren to the family. After John suffered a major stroke at age 51, Marie supported the couple by working at the Jasper County Hospital, the Jefferson House Restaurant, and doing housecleaning for others. Later they worked together at the First Christian Church where Marie was a member, and as managers of the Interstate Motel in Rensselaer. Marie took her first airplane ride at the age of 77, when she visited her dad’s homeland of Switzerland. She retired from working at the age of 88 after 18 years at the Rensselaer Nutrition Site. Marie never had a hobby but she enjoyed house cleaning, playing the piano and raising flowers. Judy and Roger agree that if their parents left them a legacy, it was the importance of giving a good days labor for your wages, always being truthful and the importance of family. Hazel was preceded in death by her four brothers, Ernest, Andrew, Lloyd and Forrest, her two sisters, Clara Prohosky Reese and Essie Flatt Cobb, her son-in-law, Donald Smith, and great-granddaughter, Amanda Hanley. Friends will be received by the family at the Jackson Funeral Chapel of Rensselaer on Monday, May 22, 2017, from 9:00 to 11:00 a.m.. Funeral services for Marie will be at 11:00 a.m. on Monday, May 22, 2017, at the Jackson Funeral Chapel of Rensselaer with Rev. Elizabeth Hartmann officiating. Burial will follow at Weston Cemetery, Rensselaer, Indiana. Memorials are suggested to the First Christian Church or the Jasper County Community Services, both in Rensselaer.

Marie Pettet

July 2, 1917 - May 16, 2017