Obituaries, October 26, 2023
Betty F. Coop
MAY 8, 1938 – OCTOBER 23, 2023
In the care of Sunset Memory Garden Funeral Home & Cemetery. Time of Visitation will be held on October 28, 2023, at 11:00 am at Sunset Memory Garden Funeral Home & Cemetery, 2097 West Alto Road, Kokomo, Indiana. Funeral Service will be held on October 28, 2023, at 1:00 pm. Entombment will be held on October 28, 2023, at 2:00 pm at Sunset Memory Garden Funeral Home & Cemetery, 2097 West Alto Road, Kokomo, Indiana.
Annie Laura (Simmons) Stants
Annie Laura (Simmons) Stants, 90, of Kokomo, passed away Tuesday, October 24, 2023, at her home. She was born in Garland, North Carolina, on March 21, 1933, the daughter of the late Willie Ray and Annie (Blackburn) Simmons. She married Richard Oliver Stants, and he preceded her in death on November 15, 2015.
Annie was a graduate of Garland High School in North Carolina. She attended Salemburg College and Indiana University. She was passionate about teaching children. This showed with the years she spent at Real Life Playschool and Kindergarten. She also worked for many years for the Kokomo Center Township School System, at Meridian and Elwood Haynes schools. Annie was a long-time member of Morning Star Church where she taught Sunday School classes. She was a friendly, compassionate, loving and caring lady. She and her husband Richard spent their winters in Brooksville, FL where they attended Brooksville Wesleyan Church. Her favorite hobby was gardening, and time spent spoiling her grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
She is survived by her children, Steve (Laura) Stants, Cathy (Lon) Cherry; brother, George Simmons; grandchildren, Alonna Cherry, Morgan (Rick) Howard, Tanner Cherry, Rania (Trevon) Hill, Kaylee Stants; great-grandchildren, Israel Howard, Ezekiel Howard, Zaria Howard.
She was preceded in death by her parents; husband; sisters, Mary Simmons Petty, Ruth “Edna” Simmons Kline, Mazelle Simmons; brothers, Charles (Iwada) Simmons, Alton Simmons, Tommy Simmons; grandchildren, Devon, Sydney, and Baby Stants.
Friends are invited to visit with the family from 10 am to Noon Saturday, October 28, 2023, at Morning Star Church in the Connection Building, 2900 East Markland Avenue, Kokomo, IN 46901. Funeral service will begin at Noon on Saturday at the church, with Pastors Jeff Evans and Greg Reed officiating. Private burial will take place in Ever Rest Cemetery in Logansport. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in Annie’s memory to Morning Star Church Missions or SMA Support Inc., PO Box 6301 Kokomo, IN 46904. Stout & Son Funeral Home has been entrusted with arrangements. Messages of condolence may be left online at www.stoutandson.com.
Noelle Christina McKinney
Noelle Christina McKinney, beloved daughter, sister, grandma, and friend passed away unexpectedly on October 18, 2023, in Kokomo, Indiana.
Noelle was born in Kokomo, Indiana on July 17, 1975, at Howard County Hospital, and was the cherished daughter of Deann Mitchell and Gary McKinney.
She attended both Grand Prairie High School and Western High School, graduating from Western High School. She pursued art school for a short time after, then pursuing a career in being a nail tech by attending Rudae’s Beauty College.
She is survived by her oldest son Justin Wilson; daughters Brittani Calhoun, Kierstin Calhoun, and Lily Calhoun; grandchildren Rhyleigh Standers and Dayne Watson; brother Mark McKinney; mother Deann Mitchell; and step father Buck Mitchell.
She was preceded in death by her father Gary McKinney in 2007.
A memorial gathering for Noelle will be held Monday, October 30, 2023, from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM at Ellers Mortuary, 725 S. Main Street, Kokomo, Indiana 46901.
In lieu of flowers memorial contributions may be made out to the family to cover expenses.
Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.ellersmortuarymainstreet.com for the family.
Linda Johnston Berry
Linda Johnston Berry passed away early in the morning on Sept. 23, 2023, after a nearly three-year intrepid war with IPF, a lung disease. A greater warrior will never be known.
Born on Nov. 7, 1948, she would have been 75 years old this year, but God decided that her 75th birthday would be in heaven "walking with Jesus" (the very name of a song she once wrote). She was a wife, friend, sister, aunt, businesswoman, musician, songwriter, poet - a multifaceted, fascinating woman. The smile.
As a wonderful friend said in a condolence card, "The world is a little less bright without her beautiful smile and presence, but oh how the heavens are shining with her angelic presence." The love, kindness and sweetness that Linda spread during her lifetime will live forever in the hearts of the many people she touched and changed for the better. A more beautiful person outside and inside would be hard to find.
God is rocking Linda in His arms right now. The SEVERE suffering for three years is over; she'll have no more tears, no more pain and no more fighting for every single breath. Her smile is back fully. She is with her maker.
Linda was married to (she said) the love of her life, her soulmate Chuck Berry for 45 years. He adored her and she him. "I got to see that smile 117,859 days, even in sickness and disease she was still the most beautiful woman in the world to me - beautiful to me, fragile body wasting to 87 lbs. and all. How you doing 'baby?' A thumbs up and a smile. Do you feel me."
BUT NOT NOW!!!!! She's smiling at Jesus and He loves it! She's His bride now!
Linda graduated from the University of Phoenix after attending Indiana University. A scholarship at Indiana University (Kokomo campus) will be established for underprivileged young women in her name.
She was a "fierce" defender of women's rights and Civil Rights, especially the downtrodden.
She was co-owner of three successful start-up companies and one of only a handful of women who owned information technology businesses in Denver, Colorado, in that day - a trailblazer, in other words.
Linda and her husband Chuck supported an orphanage named Reachout Village in Uganda for nine years. They became lifelong friends with the owners, Pastor Daniel Nkata (recently deceased) and his wife Margaret.
She also mentored young women in the Denver area and helped pay for college for several students there, in Africa and in the Bahamas.
A memorial in Denver for a celebration of life will be held for Linda at 1 p.m. Nov. 7, 2023, at Horan and McConaty Mortuary, 3101 S. Wadsworth, Lakewood, Colorado.
She was cremated and her remains will be buried on the side of a hill at the beautiful and new Seven Stones Cemetery on Titan Road, which is visible right outside the back window of her and Chuck's home.
Another memorial will happen in she and Chuck's hometown of Kokomo, Indiana, at Eller's Mortuary, 3400 S. Webster St., at 1 p.m. Nov. 14.
The burial of her ashes will be at 3 p.m. in Sunset Cemetery to be near her beloved father's grave, the greatest man in her life besides Chuck, with her nearly-100-year-old beautiful mother and family attending.
Linda is survived by her husband, Chuck Berry, who adored her and was by her side 24/7 during her courageous battle for three years; her mother, Betty Johnston; her sister, Marsha Farris; her nieces (her play daughters), Megan and Michelle; her aunts, Georgianna and Anne; her cousins, Phillip Johnston (like a brother), Jackie Maggart and Debbie Jones; and cousins, Courtney and Justin.
Linda always treated Chuck's kids from a previous marriage, Jason and Angela Berry, like her own - always; with a loving spiritual daughter who she mentored, Jenny Santos who loved her "mama Linda" immensely and an adopted son from Nassau, Prescott Haven, who she put through College of Bahamas.
Linda was the Sunshine of Chuck's life and will be missed by him and the many people and neighbors who she touched.
Simple ceremony for a simple but powerful woman.
Written by her husband, hoping to spend eternity with Jesus and her grace and peace.