Joann Kilmer Cole

Joann Kilmer Cole, 96, of Goshen, passed away Thursday, Nov. 25, 2021 at Goshen Hospital.

She was born Jan. 15, 1925 in Huron, Lawrence County, to Eli E. and Mary (Zook) Yoder.  Mary died in 1925.  Joann was raised her first seven years by Otis Paul and Mary (Miller) Shrock in Plevana.  After Mary Shrock died in 1932 Joann lived in the home of Daniel and Oda (Mitchell) Boyer in North Manchester until 1946.

She married Orvin Jay Kilmer on June 8, 1946.  Orvin was a part time minister in the Church of the Brethren and teacher at Concord High School until his death Sept. 17, 1965.

By the time Joann was 28 years old she had found her birth father, Eli in Florida, four birth sisters, Esther Bryant, Lake Worth, Florida, Ruth Taylor, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, Edna Ellen Bontrager, east of Goshen, and Dorothy at Emma Town and learned that her brother had died in 1943.  They have all preceded her in death, along with a foster sister from the Boyer family, Hilda Ruth Hippensteele.

She is survived by three children, Leon Dee (Laurel) Kilmer of Genoa, Illinois, Rebecca Louise Kilmer of Goshen and Norvin Lee Kilmer of Middlebury; six grandchildren; 13 great-grandchildren in Illinois, Michigan and New Hampshire; and a foster brother from the Boyer family, DeRoyce Boyer of Mississippi.

After her husband’s death she raised her three children alone in Goshen.  Following that she travelled, studied, and worked in California, North Carolina and Florida, also conducting self help workshops and some spiritual counseling.  In California and North Carolina, she also worked as a professional Nanny.

In later years she used her artistic ability to produce many original paintings.  As a writer she published two books, her autobiography, “Gleanings, Guidance, Growth” , and her original poems, “My Homespun Rhymes from Yesteryear”.

A memorial service will be held Thursday, December 16, 2021, at 3 p.m. at the Greencroft Community Center.

Memorial donations may be given to Camp Alexander Mack, P.O. Box 158, Milford, Indiana 46542.