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Lazarus Project

An expanded obituary project of MennObits.  Includes additional information of obituaries appearing in
The Mennonite and other newspapers.  
Source of individual obituaries given with each record.  Project managed by Thelma Martin.

1961  S


     Stineman, Ira 


Stineman, Ira -
May 1, 1880 - March 2, 1961

Born in Miami County, Indiana; son of Jonas and Lydia Christner Stineman.  Married Alice Louise Allen, also of Miami County, July 1902.  Of this union were born four children: a daughter, Gwendolyn, who died in infancy, daughters Dorothy and Sarah, and a son, Allen, who was killed in an automobile accident in November of 1960.  At the time of his death, he had four grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.  He was preceded in death by his wife on October 4, 1950.  Her birthdate was also May 1. 
A graduate of Valparaiso University in Indiana, and taught for four years on the West Coast before moving to Knoxville, Tennessee.  The rest of his teaching career was spent at Knoxville High School, where he taught science and physics until he retired in the early 1950's.  He continued to self-educate through voracious reading, with strong interest in science and history.  Volumes in his personal library numbered in the hundreds. 
During summer vacations from teaching, he worked at the building trade, constructing houses of his own design and doing most of the actual work himself.  He was an ardent gardener, having equal success in growing flowers or vegetables.  In his last several years of teaching, he and his wife moved from Knoxville to a small farm in Halls, Knox County.  Upon the death of his wife, he moved to his daughter Dorothy's home in Johnson City, TN.  Some years later, he single-handedly built a small house near his former farm site, where he lived for several more years.  As his health failed, he went to live with his other daughter, Sarah, in Falls Church, Virginia, where he died in March 1961.
His love of teaching extended to his children and grandchildren, who remember him fondly as the patient, explaining adult who always had time to answer questions in simple language that even the youngest could understand and remember.  His research into family history, and meticulous recordkeeping and photo labeling were a legacy for generations to come. 

Submitted by: Jodi Horigan




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