Allen K. Garboden

Allen Kent Garboden, 77, died in the presence of loving family on December 15, 2024 at Goshen Hospital.

He was preceded in death by parents James and Celeste (Stucky) Garboden.

He is survived by two brothers, James (Janis) Garboden of Ocala, Florida and Steve (Susan) Garboden of Goshen, Indiana, four nephews: Jeff (Stacie), Andrew (Melissa), John (Carlene), Joe (Chasity), and three nieces: Mary (Finn), Leah and Rebekah.

Allen was born September 10, 1947 into his dairy farm family outside of Berne, Indiana. He was loved and had strong relationships with his extended family and friends: aunts, uncles, cousins, and neighbors. Allen was a spirited farm worker and took great pleasure in contributing to his family. From a young age, through his early 40’s, he was an active worker on the family farm, milking cows, baling hay, harvesting crops, and doing other regular chores. For his entire life (even for decades after they left farming) he took great joy in arguing with his brothers about who had the hardest and easiest duties on the farm, including who got to stay inside cooking, who got to ride on the tractor, who had to ride at the back of the hay baler, and who had to stack the hay in the haymow. He enjoyed chatting with other local farmers at the Linn Grove grain elevator, where he’d treat himself to a Coke with peanuts in it. Allen was very fond of the dogs the family had on the farm, speaking often of Sugar in particular.

The love of animals that Allen developed through a life on the farm never left him. Although he did not have pets or animals after his time on the farm, he surrounded himself with animal statuettes, often of farm animals.

His father died in 1980. Allen and Celeste continued to farm with James until 1987, when the farm was sold. Shortly after, Allen and his mother moved to Goshen. There, Allen became an enthusiastic worker at ADEC industries for 30 years. In life in general, Allen took great pleasure in banter, and his work at ADEC was no different. He enjoyed talking about what was going on, joking with colleagues, supervisors, and his bus drivers who took him to work.

When he first moved to Goshen, Allen socialized by riding his moped around town. He would often ride the moped to McDonald’s to meet up with the morning coffee crew. Other places he enjoyed eating and socializing were Old Mill Inn, Lux Cafe, and the Berkey Avenue Men’s Prayer Breakfast. He was fond of classic diner meals, such as fried ham, mush, and biscuits and gravy. He ordered his eggs over easy. He loved steak dinners, taking pleasure in telling people when he had been living ‘high on the hog’ by eating such a meal. His favorite drink was iced tea, which he drank in copious quantities. Since moving to Greencroft, he and Steve were regulars at Culver’s every Friday for lunch. Wherever he dined, he had favorite staff persons. He and Steve developed friendships with Brenda and Anna at Culver’s most recently.

After the sale of the farm, Allen’s older brother James and family moved to Ocala, Florida. Allen enjoyed flying from the South Bend airport and spoke often of the experience, especially the first row seat that his brothers arranged for him (referring to it as ‘first class’). He loved being in Ocala with James and Janis and family.  While visiting them, he was able to have new dining experiences and sightseeing opportunities.

When his family lived on the farm, they attended First Mennonite Church in Berne.  In Goshen, he and his mother attended Berkey Avenue Mennonite Fellowship. At Berkey, he developed close relationships with members of the congregation. Because of being nurtured by church friends, his Christian faith grew, and he chose to be baptized in the early 2000s. His favorite part of every Sunday was the time between the service and Sunday school when people had coffee and socialized. He would leave the service a little bit early, anticipating the coffee, and then enjoyed being teased about how he was skipping out on bits of the service! He also enjoyed engaging in discussion about church, and had strongly held views on issues like expansion, the nature of parking, Sunday School, and sharing time. He loved being part of the church community.

After their mother died in 2003, Steve and James became Allen’s guardians. He was very close to his brothers and connected with them frequently.

The family wishes to express their deep gratitude to the case workers at ADEC and staff at Greencroft who cared for Allen and enriched his life for the past 35 years. The family also thanks Goshen Home Care and Hospice, Greencroft Chaplains, Mark Schloneger, Goshen Hospital and Berkey Avenue Mennonite Fellowship friends for guiding Allen and the family through Allen’s final days with care and compassion.

A 1 p.m. graveside service will take place Thursday, December 19, at Old Salem Cemetery, Bluffton, Indiana.

A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. at Berkey Avenue Mennonite Fellowship, 2509 Berkey Ave.,Goshen, Friday, December 20. An hour of visitation will precede the service and lunch will follow the service.

Memorial contributions may be made to ADEC (Association for the Disabled of Elkhart County) and Greencroft Foundation.

Yoder-Culp Funeral Home is assisting with arrangements.