Nancy Rose Bruder , 93, of Columbia City, passed away peacefully in the company of family at 12:45 a.m. Tuesday, October 29, 2024, at her home.

Born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, on April 1, 1931, she was the only child of the late Charles Wycoff Glessner and Cecelia Philomena (Stein) Glessner.  Growing up in Fort Wayne, she graduated from Central Catholic High School in 1949.  Continuing her education, she earned a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry and Biology at St. Francis University in Fort Wayne.

On October 9, 1954, she married Stephen F. Bruder.  They made their home in New Haven, raising six children.  During the summer months, the couple maintained a home on Big Cedar at Tri-Lakes.  In 2009, the couple moved to Columbia City.

For 42 years, she worked as a laboratory technician at Saint Joseph Hospital in downtown Fort Wayne.

A devout Catholic, she recited her rosary daily and attended mass regularly.  She maintained the household, raised the kids and kept them well clothed.  Also she was an excellent seamstress and a master of crochet, leaving her children with blankets and apparel, which are now family heirlooms.  She collected dolls, amassing many.

Enjoying lake living, she liked to swim or float with her noodles and canoe or just sit with the love of her life on the pier.  Fond of animals, she liked watching the birds and caring for her collie dog.  She created a family tradition of making the annual fruit cake and made her famous apple sauce in the fall of the year using only yellow delicious apples.  In her senior years, she delighted in playing solitaire and working word puzzles.

Surviving is her beloved husband of 70 years, Steve; children, Elayne (Peter) Davis-Johnson of Fort Wayne, Sarah (Michael) Clendenen of New Haven, Linda (Christopher) Taylor of Chesapeake, VA, Judie (Stephen) Edmiston of New Haven, Stephen (Diane) Bruder of New Haven, and David (Sallye) Bruder of Columbia City; grandchildren, David (Tish) Clendenen, Brian (Crystal) Clendenen, Tyler (Emma) Clendenen, Jason (Katie) Clendenen, Celia (Brett) Mobley, Victor (Cailin) Taylor, Elizabeth Taylor, Anita Taylor, and Eric (Cammi) Edmiston; and 14 great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by a son-in-law, Jeffery Davis.

A Mass of Christian Burial is at 11 a.m. Thursday (Nov. 7th) at St. Paul of the Cross Catholic Church, 315 S. Line St, Columbia City.  Burial is at the Catholic Cemetery, Columbia City.  Visitation is from 2 to 6 p.m. Wednesday with a Rosary at 6 p.m. at Smith & Sons Funeral Home, Columbia City, and 1 hour before the Mass Thursday at the church.

Memorials in Nancy's honor are to St Vincent de Paul Society of St Paul of the Cross, or Heartland Hospice, or St Paul of the Cross – Masses.