COLUMBUS
Mary Ellen was born on October 4, 1941, in New Castle, Indiana to Lucille Reinhardt and James Samuel Sweet Sr. She was the youngest of the family learning how to be a good kid by seeing what her older brother James Samuel Sweet, Jr and older sister Carole Ann Market did wrong in growing up. She graduated from Lincoln High School in Cambridge City and attended Purdue University. While at Purdue, she met Martin “Marty” William Grossman. They were married on February 11, 1963. They moved to Columbus from Madison, Indiana in 1964. They had 4 girls Lucy Anne, Teresa Lynn, Amy Jo and Susan Elizabeth. After the girls were born, Mary Ellen completed her Purdue degree in English Education but never actually taught classes only serving as a substitute teacher. She went to work full-time when the girls were all in school. She worked for over 20 years as a deputy clerk of Bartholomew County and specifically worked as the second Bartholomew County Genealogist. Looking into family histories and specifically how families grew in members was a passion for her. She has been able to track her family back many generations to when they came from Europe to Indiana. She found many different members of her extended family throughout the nation. If you knew her, you were likely related to Mary Ellen. Over the years, she could keep track of inquiries about genealogy and pass new information on to those who had inquired many years before. In the last few years, she had been troubled with advancing dementia and had lost many memories. The girls have tried to keep her memories alive for her during this time. Mary Ellen passed on October 4th, her 82 birthday, at her home with her favorite daughters at her side.
Mary Ellen spent her time on this Earth bringing her 4 daughters up in a world where girls were either teachers or homemakers. She taught her girls that they should always look further ahead and reach for the best of whatever they wanted to be. In that regard, her eldest daughter Lucy became a mechanical engineering associate, her second daughter Teresa became a family physician, her third daughter Amy works in information technology doing coding and her fourth daughter Susan works as a supply chain manager for a global company.
Mary Ellen left behind the girls Lucy Anne (Mark) Baker, Teresa Lynn (Don) Lovins, Amy Jo Baker, and Susan Elizabeth Grossman. She left 9 grandchildren Leslie (Derick) Krebbs, Lauren Burns, Roth, Samuel, Matthew, and Abigail Lovins, Ashley and Andrew Baker, and Alisha (Jacob) England. She also left behind 5 great grandchildren Rylee, Leni and Tyler Krebbs, Bennett Smith, and the newest Mason England. She enjoyed seeing the growth of her own family until the end.
Preceding her in death include her husband Martin William Grossman, her parents Lucille and James, her brother James Samuel Sweet Jr, and sister Carole Ann Market and her great grandson Broady Krebbs.
She will be missed by all those who she touched during her lifetime.
Cremation is planned. Interment will occur at a later date in Garland Brook Cemetery beside her husband. Visitation with the family will be 4 to 7 p.m. Friday, October 13th at Barkes, Weaver &Glick Funeral Home on Washington Street with a rosary being said at 7:00 p.m. that evening. A memorial mass will take place at 12:30 p.m. Saturday, October 14th at St Bartholomew Catholic Church with Father Chris Wadelton officiating. The family has asked that in lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Just Friends, Our Hospice, or St Bartholomew Catholic Church.
Online condolences and special memories may be shared with the Grossman family and a video tribute viewed at barkesweaverglick.com.
