ORANGEVILLE - Grace May Krappe Pittman, 91, entered into eternal rest Saturday, Dec. 22, 2012, at the home of her daughter and with family by her side.
Grace was born on Nov. 2, 1921, in Iowa City, Iowa, the daughter of late Edith Smith Krappe and Alexander Haggerty Krappe.
She attended elementary school in Iowa City before eventually moving with her parents to Carbondale, Ill., where she graduated in 1940 from Carbondale Community High School. Known affectionately as "Doc"during high school, no one was surprised when after graduation, she left Illinois and entered the University of Iowa, seeking a degree in botany.
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In 1939, she returned to Carbondale and completed her degree at Southern Illinois University, graduating in 1943 with a Bachelor of Science degree in English and a minor in French. She returned to college later and obtained a master's in French.
After having taught English and French for more than 20 years, she found her true calling in 1967 when she moved to Normal, Ill., and became an academic adviser at Illinois State University. This calling combined her love of books and her strengths as a communicator. She especially loved tackling her students' curriculum challenges. Grace remained an adviser at Illinois State University until her retirement from the university in the late 1980s.
Before retirement, Grace found a love for genealogy and this hobby turned into a lifelong pursuit. Not only did she research her own family roots, she helped others who needed her expertise in researching their families past. After she retired, she moved to Salt Lake City, Utah, where she lived for 10 years doing specific genealogical research, wrote and edited books for others. Grace also published numerous articles in the New England Journal of Genealogy.
Grace enjoyed camping, gourmet cooking, especially seeking out recipes of colonial America. Grace will be remembered for her love of books, sewing, friends, family and her many pets.
She is survived by her children, Alice (Stewart) Estes, of Little Rock, Ark., Mayor Ruth (Don) Bennett of Orangeville and Mark Pittman of Heyworth, Ill.; five grandchildren; three step-grandchildren; 10 great-grandchildren; and two sisters, Virginia Blood and Helmi Kirtcher.
Visitation will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Galloway-Onstott Funeral Home, 3451 state Route 7, Hartford. The funeral service will be at 11 a.m. Thursday at the funeral home. Burial will be in Orangeville Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in her name to Ohio's Choice Home Health and Hospice, 1520 E. Market St., Warren, OH 44483, or to the Kinsman Public Library, 6420 Church St., Kinsman, OH 44428.
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