Willard Detweiler Hunsberger

Willard "Willie" Detweiler Hunsberger, 85, died Wednesday afternoon, May 16, 2012, at Greencroft Healthcare. He was born July 19, 1926 in Souderton, Pennsylvania to Earl Heacock and Estella (Detweiler) Hunsberger. In 1951 he married Ann Raber and they were later divorced in 1974. He then married Pauline Farquhar in 1976. She died in 1996. In 2000 he married Virginia Oberley and she died in 2006. He is survived by a son, Terry (Lois) Kaufmann-Hunsberger and a daughter, Patrice Hunsberger, both of Fort Wayne; and a brother, Harold Hunsberger, Pennsylvania. He was preceded in death by his parents, his step-mother, Sara Detweiler Kulp Hunsberger; a sister, Kathryn and a brother, Earl. A 1950 graduate of Goshen College, he did his Civilian Public Service at camps in Virginia and California and at the Rhode Island State Mental Hospital. He also earned his Master's in Education from Temple University and his Master's in Library Science from Florida State University. The family spent six years in Guam where he served as teacher and librarian in the Guam School System. In 1968 he became librarian at Indiana-Purdue University in Fort Wayne, retiring in 1991. He enjoyed traveling, both in the US and internationally. He especially enjoyed singing in groups. While a resident of Fort Wayne he sang with the Philharmonic Chorus and while at Greencroft he sang with Evergreen Singers. He authored two books, The Franconia Mennonites and War in 1951, his senior thesis at Goshen College; and Clarence Darrow; A Bibliography, in 1981. Willard was a great admirer of Clarence Darrow, an internationally known defense attorney from 1890 to 1930, who defended over 2000 people, many of them for free. Friends may call an hour prior to the 10:30 a.m., Friday, May 25, 2012, memorial service in the Koinonia Room at College Mennonite Church, Goshen. Cremains will be buried at Lindenwood Cemetery, Fort Wayne, next to Pauline; St. Louis Besancon Catholic Church, next to Virginia; and scattered in the Celebration Park at Greencroft Gardens. Memorial contributions may be made to the Fort Wayne Philharmonic or Goshen College.