Submitted by: Dan Rich

South Bend Tribune 9/12/2001

Stephen L. Sheets

Sept. 22, 1942 - Sept. 10, 2001

Captain Stephen L. Sheets, 58, a South Bend firefighter, residing on Catherwood Drive, South Bend, passed away at 11:29 a.m. Monday, Sept. 10, 2001, in the emergency room of St. Joseph Regional Medical Center, South Bend, following an apparent heart attack. Mr. Sheets was born September 22, 1942, in Goshen, Indiana, as the son of Glenn W. & Emma (Lehman) Sheets, and has been a lifelong area resident. He graduated in 1960 from John Adams High School, South Bend, and joined the United States Air Force the same year. He was honorably discharged in 1962.

On November 3, 1962, in Mottsville, Michigan, he married Diana E. Braden. He is survived by his wife, Diana of 38 years, along with two sons and their wives, Thomas S. (Carri) Sheets of South Bend, also a South Bend firefighter, and Gerald W. (Stephanie) Sheets of Fayetteville, North Carolina; two grandchildren, Ariel & Ryan Sheets, and sister, Ardene Bontrager of Goshen. He was preceded in death by his parents and two grandchildren, Kayla & Codie Sheets.

Mr. Sheets was appointed a firefighter on July 16, 1966, with the South Bend Fire Dept. where he has served faithfully for 35 years. He was currently serving as a Safety Officer with the Dept. He was a member of the International Association of Firefighters, and the Indiana Association of Firefighters, and B.A.S.S.

Services will be at 10 a.m. Friday, September 14, in St. Mary of the Assumption Catholic Church, 3402 Locust Road. Rev. Paul McCarthy will officiate. Burial will follow at St. Joseph Valley Memorial Park, Granger. The family will receive friends from 2-4 and 6-9 p.m. Thursday in Palmer Funeral Home, 2528 Mishawaka Ave., South Bend, and after 8:30-9:30 a.m. Friday in the funeral home.