Alma E. Vinion 1928-2022

She was born in Youngstown, on Nov. 3, 1928, to Mattie Royse Yount and Russell Yount.

On July 27, 1949, she married Billie Russell Vinion; they were together for 50 years until his passing Feb. 26, 1999.

As a child, she lived with her mother and two younger siblings in a single-parent family during the Depression. As the oldest, she was expected, and did help in the raising of her younger siblings.

At the age of 14, during the middle of World War II, she left school early one day and hopped a public bus to downtown Youngstown, where she lied about her age, saying she was 16, so she could help support her mother and younger siblings.

Because it was the middle of the war and workers were scarce, the manager of the drug store didn’t look too closely at her application and she immediately began full-time work for five dollars per week.

She continued working throughout the rest of her life, as a retail clerk, waitress and factory worker. After retirement, she continued to volunteer at the Columbus Georgia Medical Center and Wooster Community Hospital gift shops for many years.

She was living on her own, independently, until July 2022, when a fall and complications from COVID-19 forced her into care.

Despite not having finished high school, she insisted her children get an education and both finished college and graduate and professional degrees. She then completed her own GED and took college courses well into her 70s.

The two most important aspects to her life were her family and her church.

As a lifelong Southern Baptist, Alma attended weekly church services whenever her health permitted.

She is survived by her two children, Billie (Dr. Richard) Federspiel of West Lafayette, Ind. and Lon (Melanie) Vinion of Wooster; a brother, James (Karen) Sheely of Waverly Hall, Ga.; five grandchildren, Erin Federspiel of Des Moines, Iowa, Courtney (Dr. Todd) Bertrand of Indianapolis, Ind., Jon Federspiel of Germany, Keenan (Jenni Brown) of Dublin, Ohio and Colin Vinion (Jen Brown) of the Pacific Northwest; and two great-grandchildren, Jason Vinion of Wooster and Beatrice James Bertrand of Indianapolis.

In addition to her parents, and husband, she was also preceded in death by a sister, Donna Lee Vince of Hagerstown, Ky.

The family would like to extend appreciation to the wonderful staff of the Wayne County Care Center for compassion and care during the last weeks of their mom’s life, and also to Melanie, for the many kindnesses and care shown to Alma, especially during the 20-plus years she lived in Wooster.

A private graveside service will be held by the family at a date to be determined.

The family would request, in lieu of flowers, friends make a donation to the charity of their choice, in their mother’s name.

Custer-Glenn Funeral Home in Wooster is honored to serve the family. Words of private or public condolences may be shared with the family at www.custerglenn.com.

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