Geraldine "Jeri" Dailey

E. Geraldine Jeri Dailey was a vibrant woman with a strong faith. Challenges in life were met with confidence in God and a deep love for people. Having grown up with little, Jeri appreciated everything she had, and out of everything she valued, family meant the most. She was a devoted sister, wife, mother and grandmother who made life sweet for those around her.

Born at home on December 21, 1933 in Etna-Troy Township of Whitley County, Edith Geraldine was the daughter of Samuel Elza and Josephine Allegra (Rowland) Gaff. It was a time when Americans were struggling to survive the Great Depression, but farm families such as the Gaffs were self-sufficient enough to always have the basics of life. As potato farmers, the entire family was involved in field work, and Jeri joined her parents and siblings as soon as she was walking. Being the youngest of 14 children, she looked up to many of them as role models, but she was especially close to Ruby and Grace.

She never went by her first name and most knew her as Geraldine or Jeri. Her formal education began and concluded in the public schools of the small community of Larwill. After graduating from Larwill High School in 1952, she moved to Muncie, Indiana and lived with her sister Ruby. Jeri was attending classes at the International Business College when a friend introduced her to a young man named Gerald R. Dailey. Gerald and Jeri soon began corresponding and arranging to meet on weekends. Either he would drive down to see her or he would take her back home so she could visit for the weekend. It was not long before their letters showed just how much Gerald and Jeri were in love. They sealed their commitment in marriage on September 4, 1954 at the First Church of God in Columbia City, where they settled and raised their family of three children, Allegra Joy, Linda and Daniel.

Living north of Columbia City at the corner of State Road 9 and 300 North, Jeri not only cared for her family, she also worked at the Kroger grocery store until retiring in 1991. With a career and family, Jeri still managed to cook delicious meals at home, bake regularly and work a garden in the summer. In later years, she became a rather fine sous chef to her son-in-law Larry, whose skills she admired as she watched him cook. However, when it came to baking, Jeri was the expert. Her homemade noodles were superb and her baked bread was always in demand. Amazingly, she made bread every day and fittingly called it her Dailey bread. She was also great at making cakes and decorating them for people she knew or who asked her to bake for weddings, birthdays and special anniversaries.

When she was not busy in the kitchen or garden, Jeri enjoyed making crafts, sewing, watching Indiana University basketball, reading and (at all times) listening to the singing of her canaries. During the Christmas holidays, she delighted in playing Mrs. Claus and having family members dress up with their Christmas hats and passed out the felt stockings she had made for them. As for books, she never read a novel that might have vulgar words or gory scenes in them. Rather, she chose Amish fiction, the Readers Digest and inspirational Christian writings. To keep her faith alive and her hobbies keen, Jeri was a member of the Indiana Bird Fanciers and Hoosier Exotics and was actively involved with the United Methodist Women. Over the years, she attended church at Blue River United Methodist, St. Mathew United Methodist and Thorncreek Bethel for as long as she was mobile. As much as possible, Jeri babysat her grandchildren and simply loved being their grandmother.

Always well dressed and quick witted, Jeri credited her fondness for bright colors and her stubbornness to being the youngest child. She liked attention and got it whether she was digging in her heals or telling a good joke. It was also her way of making life pleasant amid some of her hardships.

At birth, Geraldine had been partially blinded in one eye, and at the age of 16, she had sustained an accident while working on a tractor with her dad that left her partially burned on her right arm and side. Not long after that trauma, her father died unexpectedly. Late in life, she lived with Parkinsons disease and dementia and in 2015 moved south of Ft. Wayne with her daughter Linda and son-in-law Larry. Yet, through all those struggles, she never wondered why God would give her such challenges. Rather, she knew that God had something special for her when she got to heaven. She arrived there October 19, 2016. Jeri earned her wings and continued her journey home to where she was reunited with her loving husband, her parents, eight sisters, three brothers and her grandson.

E. Geraldine Jeri Dailey, 82, of Columbia City, Indiana, passed away at 6:00 p.m. Wednesday, October 19, 2016 at home. Survivors include her son, Daniel (Rita) Dailey, of Columbia City; daughters, Allegra Joy North, of Fort Wayne and Linda (Larry) Rohrbach, of Fort Wayne; sisters, Alice Parker, of Larwill and Grace Brower of Columbia City; grandchildren, Stephen, Kalah, Michael, Kendra, Samuel and Caleb; and great-granddaughters, Grace and Alyssa. She was preceded in death by her parents; husband, Gerald Dailey in 2007; sisters, Bernice Nickerson, Ruby Horton, Gertrude Gaff, Pearl Secrist, Ellen Puff, Velma Miller, Carol Cool and infant sister, Marian Gaff; brothers, Robert, Forrest and Jesse Gaff; and a grandson, Matthew Dailey.

Visitation is 1-4 p.m. Sunday, October 23, 2016 at DeMoney-Grimes, a Life Story Funeral Home, 600 Countryside Drive, Columbia City. Funeral services will be 10 a.m. Monday at the funeral home with visitation one hour prior. Certified Funeral Celebrant Sharon Brockhaus will be officiating. Memorial gifts may be given in Mrs. Daileys memory to National Parkinson Foundation or Visiting Nurse and Hospice Home. Visit www.demoneygrimes.com to send family condolences or sign the guest register book.