Sally Ginter

Sally Louise Ginter, age 87 years formerly of Niles, Michigan died at 8:00 p.m. on Friday, September 15, 2023 with her family gathered around at Memorial Hospital in South Bend, Indiana following a brief illness.

She was born on October 14, 1935 in New Haven, Connecticut to Edward C. and Isabel (Dicks) Roberts. After graduating from high school in New Haven she continued her education at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina earning a bachelor’s degree in English, and earned her master’s degree from the University of Indiana – South Bend.  She began her career as an aide in the elementary schools of the Niles Community Schools, and then was a professor of English and Children’s Literature at Lake Michigan College.

Sally was a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Niles, where she also sang in the choir, and participated in the Abbey Players.  She was a frequent patron, an employee, and board member of the Niles District Library, and was a member of the Ladies Historical Society.  She typically would read three books each week, and enjoyed a wide variety of subjects.  She combined her interest in the theater and her fascination with reading by performing dramatic readings with Gloria Cooper.

In more recent years, she was active in hand crafts such as knitting and decoupage, and for many years was a pleasing sight as she made her way around Niles riding her bright yellow electric vehicle.

On August 10, 1957 in New Haven, she married Walter R. Ginter with whom she celebrated last month the remarkable Sixty-sixth Anniversary of their wedding.

Surviving family includes her husband, Walter and their sons, Walt (& Laura) Ginter of South Bend and Paul (& Karen) Ginter of Kalamazoo, Michigan; grandchildren, Andy (& Sarah) Ginter, Emma (& Scott) Bartley, Sarah Ginter, Nathan Ginter, and Mackenzie Ginter; great-grandchildren Grant, Lucas, and Isabel; and several nieces and nephews.

Sally was preceded in death by her parents, and by her brother, Edward Roberts.

The Memorial Service for Sally Ginter will be at 11:00 a.m. on Monday, September 25, 2023 at the First Presbyterian Church, 13 South Fourth Street in Niles with the Rev. Christopher Mergener of the church officiating, assisted by the Rev. Janet Van Lear.  The family will receive relatives and friends on Monday at the church beginning at 10:00 a.m.

Contributions in memory of Sally may be made to Doctors Without Borders. 40 Rector Street, 16^th Floor, New York, New York, 10006, https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/; or to Habitat for Humanity, 285 Peachtree Center Avenue NE, Suite 2700, Atlanta, Georgia, 30303, https://www.habitat.org/.  Arrangements were completed at the Halbritter-Wickens Funeral Home, 615 East Main Street in Niles.  Online memories may be left at:

www.halbritterwickens.com

Sally Ginter’s eighty-seven years of life was a was an exceptional journey, always moving forward on her unquenchable thirst for knowledge; three books each week is fifteen hundred sixty books in just each decade.  But she also enjoyed sharing that knowledge as a teacher and professor, and it was the people that made her life extraordinary, including a great circle of wonderful friends, her family, and Walter.