October 31, 1927 – February 21, 2019
Earl “Junior” Nesbitt, 91, Sheridan, passed away Thursday afternoon, February 21, 2019 surrounded by his loving family at Copper Trace in Westfield. Born October 31, 1927 in Terhune, he was the son of the late Earl and Anna Desiree (McCoskey) Nesbitt, Sr.
After finishing school at Terhune, Junior hired on at the Wilson Milk Company in Sheridan and stayed with the company for about a decade. When it was time to leave Wilson’s, Junior hired on at Biddle Screw Products. He worked as a machinist and lathe operator for 37 years until taking his retirement in 1990.
In every small town all across the country, there are always those special people who have been there as long as you can remember. Nobody can really tell how or when they first met them, they just always seem to have known them. Every meeting with them comes with a story about people and places that are long since gone, but they make them seem as if you were just there yesterday. You can usually set your clocks by their daily activities around town, and when you don’t see them that day, something feels different, but you just can’t put your finger on it. On Thursday, Sheridan lost one of those people.
Junior Nesbitt loved people. He had a way about him that seemed to make your day better for having seen him. Ever since retirement, and probably long before that, he had his dedicated route of people and places around town that he needed to visit. Sometimes the order was different and sometimes there were additions to the schedule depending on the time of year, but he pretty much tried to keep to his scheduled rounds. In the spring and summer, Junior turned his love of vegetable gardening into a reason to visit. He would just drop by, out of the blue, with some fresh produce straight from his garden. Usually the deliveries would come with a story, sometimes two, and then off to the next stop. Sometimes he would get so caught up in the story that he would forget to leave the produce he brought and have to make a return trip later in the day. He loved making people feel better, and there wasn’t anything he wouldn’t do for anyone. If someone need something, Junior was there, a smile on his face, and a couple stories to help pass the time.
Junior was also one of those people that seemed to take to just about anything he tried. He was a skilled woodworker, restoring and refinishing furniture. And if there a project to work on around the house, he had no problems meeting it head on. He also loved tinkering around with his Harley.
Junior is survived by his two sons, Larry E. Nesbitt (Ann), Heritage Lake, Ind.; and Rex A. Nesbitt (Jeanna), Sheridan; his daughter, Deborah Merriman (Jeff), Sheridan; three grandchildren, Michael Nesbitt (Kim), Terre Haute; Whitney Merriman (Ellis Ritchie), Anderson; and Amber Merriman, Sheridan; 4 1/2 great-grandchildren, Heather Nesbitt, Brittany Nesbitt, Malik Harris and Linkoln Merriman, with Willa on the way; two great-great-grandchildren, Corbin and Brylin Nesbitt; one sister, Joie Stephens, Noblesville; sister-in-law, Betty Sedwick; and brother-in-law, Bob Ottinger (Ann).
He was preceded in death by his parents; brothers, James, Vaughn, Harold “Shiner”, John, Charles and Frank; two sisters, Rosanna Hawkins and Violet Nesbitt; and by the love of his life, his wife Phyllis M. (Ottinger) Nesbitt on January 22, 2012. She and Junior were married on January 6, 1948.
Services will be held at 1 p.m. on Thursday, February 28, 2019 at Kercheval Funeral Home, 306 E. 10th St., Sheridan. Burial will follow at Crown View Cemetery in Sheridan. Pastor Carol Fritz will be officiating. Visitation will be held from 4 to 8 p.m. on Wednesday, February 27, 2019 at Kercheval Funeral Home in Sheridan.
Arrangements
Calling: 4 to 8 p.m., Feb. 27
Service: 1 p.m., Feb. 28
Location: Kercheval Funeral Home
Condolences: kerchevalfuneralhome.com