Erna Kathleen Boyer (Sprung), 86, a long-time resident of Elkhart, Indiana, passed away on Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2019, in Wakarusa, Indiana.

Erna was born on Jan. 1, 1933, in Sargeant, Minnesota. She grew up on the family farm near Dexter, Minnesota. After graduating from Austin High School, Erna entered Methodist-Kahler School of Nursing in Rochester, Minnesota, and earned her RN degree. She then worked her way through North Central College, Naperville, Illinois, as a college campus nurse, earning her BA in religion. Along the way, she and her future husband, Ernest, became college sweethearts and married soon after graduation. Erna started her family with son Brent in San Antonio, Texas, as an enlisted Army wife, followed by a few years in Rochester. She made her family complete with daughter Beth in Ames, Iowa, while Ernest was in grad school. The young family then moved to Elkhart in 1968. Elkhart was home to Erna. She raised her kids up as a fulltime mom. She was fully involved in the births of all her grandchildren and made time to be part of their lives growing up. She loved going to visit distant family and to school reunions, including country school, high school, nursing school, and college. She also liked to travel with Ernest on some of his Miles, Inc. business trips far and wide in the U.S. and Europe. Erna’s voluntary interests included working with the Mental Health Association of Elkhart county, for which she was recognized with certificates of appreciation for “Enriching the Lives of Others,” and the New Day Parent-Child Society, Inc., where she was recognized for significant volunteer time spent in their crisis nursery in the 1980s.

Erna was the loving wife of Ernest. She is also survived by her son, Brent, and his wife Linda; her daughter, Beth Wyatt, and her husband, Mike; grandchildren, Drew Boyer, Lindsay Boyer, Toni Wyatt and Eric Boyer; brother, Edsel Sprung, and his wife, Beryl, of Austin, Minnesota; brother, Allan Sprung of Rochester; and many nieces and nephews.

Erna was predeceased by her parents, Vivian Sprung Rolfe and Ernest Sprung; and stepfather Burson Rolfe; and by her son, Sidney Scott Boyer.

Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, March 2, 2019, at Chapel Hill Memorial Gardens & Funeral Home, 10776 McKinley Highway, Osceola, IN, with Pastor Pastor Keith McFarren officiating. Visitation will be held from 4-8 p.m. on Friday, March 1, 2019, at Chapel Hill Memorial Gardens & Funeral Home and will continue for one hour before the service on Saturday at the funeral home. Interment will follow the service on Saturday in the Chapel Hill Memorial Gardens, weather permitting. In lieu of flowers if friends so desire, donations can be made in Erna’s memory to the nonprofit Child And Parent Services, 1000 W. Hively Ave., Elkhart, IN, 46517. Please write “ATTN: Denna Vandepette” on envelope.

The family would like to thank the staff at the Miller Merry Manor in Wakarusa for their care of Mom and to the members of Bethel United Methodist Church for all their support. To leave an online condolence or sign the guest book, please visit www.chapelhillmemorial.com.