Mary E. Breitbarth

Mary Ellen Breitbarth of Bolingbrook, Illinois, and formerly of Valparaiso, Indiana, went to be with her Lord, whom she loved with all her heart and soul, on Tuesday, May 31. Her death at her home in Greenleaf Apartments in Bolingbrook was sudden. She was 89, and preceded in death by her husband of 55 years, August R. Breitbarth. A woman of faith, Mary and her husband and a handful of other believers founded Grace Chapel in Valparaiso, Indiana. Now located on Lafayette Street in Valparaiso, Grace Chapel began as a home-based gathering in Boone Grove Township in 1964. It later moving to another house on State Road 2 which was purchased and refurbished to serve as the new sanctuary. The congregation outgrew the building and moved into the former Nazarene Church of Valparaiso. With her intensive knowledge of the Bible, she was a respected leader of Bible studies in Indiana and Illinois for decades, and at age 85, was ordained as a minister. In her last remaining years, she actively ministered in the Bolingbrook community including Meadowbrook Manor, and Heritage Assisted Living. She was a member of Bolingbrook’s The Church at Greenleaf where she led singing. For two decades beginning in 1950, she was a oft-requested soprano soloist at Valparaiso area Christian gatherings and churches. Born Oct. 3, 1926 in Wathena (cq), Kansas to Claude Arthur Mattox and Ruth Mable Cook Mattox, she was the youngest of five: her sisters Violet May and Lilly Viola and brothers Charles Marion (Jack) and Lester Alyn preceded her in death. She was a devoted mother, grandmother and great grandmother and is survived by three children, Diane E. Winterhoff, DeBary (cq) Florida; Coty Dolores Miranda, Ensenada, Mexico, and A.J. Breithbarth, Benton Harbor, Michigan. She doted on her 10 grandchildren and 13 great grandchildren: Matthew Kucinski of Deltona, Florida, Kelly Kucinski Jacobs of Deland, Florida; Dianne Emlet Ross, Phoenix, AZ; JoAnne (cq) Emlet Scribner, Bethesda, Maryland; Eric Emlet, Mesa, Arizona; Jessica Emlet Stinson, Gilbert, Arizona; Raymond Byron Magic Raposa, Portland, Oregon; August Nathaniel Breitbarth, Austin Breitbarth and Ashton Breitbarth, all of Laporte, IN. Also that at approximately 3 p.m. Wednesday Mary will be interred with her husband at Graceland Cemetery in Valparaiso, Indiana with Rev. Larry Owens bringing the message.

Mary E. Breitbarth

May 31, 2016