Sylvia S. “Barb” Whitaker, 76, passed away at 6:51 p.m. Tuesday, June 5, 2012, at the Lutheran Hospital of Fort Wayne, Ind.

She was born on January 16, 1936 in Salyersville, Kentucky, to Claude Hunley and Virginia (LeMaster) Blanton. On January 28, 1954 she was married to Ben F. Whitaker, who passed away on February 4, 1998.

Barb has been a resident of Kosciusko County, Indiana, since 1954, where she was a homemaker and briefly worked at Gatke Corporation in Warsaw, Indiana. She attended First Freewill Baptist Church of Kosciusko County, Claypool, Indiana.

She will be lovingly remembered by her son: Harvey (wife Lisa) Whitaker (Columbia City, Indiana); two daughters: Wilma (husband Keith) Hale (Warsaw, Indiana); Rhonda (husband John) Perkins (Warsaw, Indiana); ten grandchildren, and twenty-one great-grandchildren. Also surviving is one brother: Paul (wife Rose) Blanton (North Manchester, Indiana). She was preceded in death by her husband, parents, and one daughter.

Visitation will be held on Friday, June 8, 2012 from 2:00 – 4:00 p.m. and 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. at Redpath-Fruth Funeral Home, 225 Argonne Road, Warsaw, Indiana.

Her funeral service will be conducted on Saturday, June 9, 2012 at 10:00 a.m. at First Freewill Baptist Church of Kosciusko County, 700 South & County Farm Road, Claypool, Indiana and officiated by Pastor Terry Bradford. Burial will follow at Oakwood Cemetery of Warsaw.

Memorial donations may be directed to the American Diabetes Association, Chicago/Northern IL Office, 30 North Michigan Avenue, Suite 2015, Chicago, Illinois 60602.

Online condolences may be sent through the funeral home’s Web Site at www.redpathfruthfuneralhome.com