Carl A. Sheets, 95, 1020 Lincolnway East, died of colon cancer at 3:10 p.m. on Tuesday, May 2, 2000, in Pilgrim Manor Nursing Home. Carl had lived in Plymouth since 1948, coming from Rochester.
He was born on May 21, 1904, in Tiosa, Fulton County, the son of Clarence Edgar and Alma Videl Sheets. He graduated from Richland Center High School in 1924 and earned a Teaching Certificate in 1927 from Manchester College.
Carl and Anna Louise Emmons Emigh were married in Plymouth on October 23, 1949. Anna Louise died on January 24, 1988.
Carl’s career was rich and varied. He taught school in a one-room schoolhouse near Richland Center for one year. He saved his paychecks to buy radios and sweepers that he sold door-to-door in order to earn the money for his own store. He owned and operated the Carl Sheets Electric & Appliance store in Argos and then in Plymouth where he sold all kinds of electric and gas appliances. He prided himself with being fair-minded and giving personal service to his customers.
A born salesman, Carl just plain loved selling things. He said, “I sold thousands of appliances to people in Fulton and Marshall Counties as well as delivering them to people in Chicago, Ft. Wayne and South Bend.”
He sold his store in 1980 and enjoyed time spent visiting with his son, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Carl is survived by his son, Ward C. Sheets, of Florida, and a brother, William Lee and Dorotha Sheets, of Warsaw.
Christine and Robert Orr, a step-daughter, Huntsville, Ala., and two step-daughters-in-law, Mildred Emigh, Rochester and Julia Emigh, Richmond,Ind., survive as well, together with three granddaughters: Dawn, Christy and Lisa Sheets, all of Richmond, Virginia. Six great-grandchildren, six step-grandchildren and six step-great-grandchildren also survive.
He was preceded in death by his parents and his wife.
Friends may visit with Carl’s family on Thursday, May 4, 2000, from 5 to 8 p.m., and on Friday, May 5, 2000, from 9 to 11 a.m. in the Johnson-Danielson Funeral Home, 1100 N. Michigan St., Plymouth.
The funeral service in the funeral home will be on Friday, May 5, 2000, at 11 a.m. The Rev. Robert Orr, a son-in-law of Huntsville, Ala., and Pastor Rustin Krapfl, of the Sunrise Chapel which Carl attended, will officiate.
Burial will be in the I.O.O.F. Cemetery in Rochester.
Memorial gifts in Carl’s memory may be made to a charity of the donor’s choice.