TOPE FAMILY PAGE

Decatur, Adams County, Indiana. He married Lillian Robinson, daughter of Isaac Robison on 30 May 1917 in Adams County, Indiana.²⁴ Lillian was born in 1898 in Indiana and died in Decatur, Adams County, Indiana. Earnest and Lillian are buried in the Decatur Cemetery, Decatur, Adams County, Indiana

Earnest and Lillian Tope had two children:

+175 i. Irene Zeila⁶ Tope, born 21 November 1917 in Decatur, Adams County, Indiana.

+176 ii. Lester Richard⁶ Tope, born 26 July 1920

56. William Groce⁵ Tope (Tope photo) was born 25 November 1896 in Wren, Van Wert County, Ohio,²⁵ and died 23 June 1956 m Decatur, Adams County, Indiana.²⁶ He married Artis May Welker on 24 February 1917 in Adams County, Indiana,²⁷ daughter of S.T. Welker and Sarah Catherine Chronister. Artis was born 4 January 1898 in Adams County, Indiana, and died 24 February 1994 in Lakeside Manor Nursing Home, Decatur, Adams County, Indiana.²⁸
    William Groce owned two farms in St. Mary's Township, Adams County, Indiana. In addition to farming, he was employed by General Electric Company in Decatur, Adams County, Indiana. On the fatal day in June, Groce became ill while working on a farm²⁹

and returned to his house, where he succumbed to a coronary thrombosis.³⁰  His funeral was conducted 26 June 1956 in the Mt. Zion United Brethren in Christ in Bobo, Indiana, after which he was buried in the Decatur Cemetery, Adams Co., Indiana.³¹

    May, as she was known, was a homemaker and former employee of both Adams County memorial Hospital and General Electric Co. She was a member of the United Brethren in Christ Church and had attended St. Mark's United Methodist Church and its Keen Agers. She was a member of Senior Citizens and Jolly Housewife Home Economics Club, both of Decatur. Being a farmer's wife, she also tended to the milking and chicken chores.

Groce and May were very giving and loving people, who helped friends and relatives who were in need. They opened their home for housing, offered food, and nursed many family