A true Brown County native, Oma Jean Bond Kritzer was born May 25, 1932, in her Uncle Earl’s house along the railroad tracks in Helmsburg to Ivan Yoder Bond and Kathryn McClary Bond. She was named Oma after Oma Zody, a close family friend, but she hated that name.
She grew up in Helmsburg and Bean Blossom until her family settled on McClary Road.
Jean’s first job was at the age of 9 waiting tables at the Blue Bell Cafe in Bean Blossom where her mother sometimes cooked. She also worked at the Pittman House making beds and making toast, but she wasn’t allowed to clean the mirrors. She sometimes helped her mother clean Bond’s Funeral Home until one day when her mother jumped from behind a door and scared her. But her favorite job was working at Miller’s Drug Store on the corner. Jean loved telling stories about the tourists, but her favorite pastime was eating ice cream and drinking coke, habits she continued the rest of her life. She stayed on after Miller’s was sold to Hook’s, retiring in 1992 after 25 years of service.
Jean graduated from Nashville High School in 1950. In 1952 she married the love of her life, Max Kritzer. Soon after they moved to Jackson Branch where they raised a family, remodeled a house, mowed a lot of grass, chopped a lot of wood, built a lot of fence and then came the horses.
Although active in the community volunteering with the Cub Scouts and Girl Scouts, Jean was best known for the tasty tartar sauce she made for the Brown County Fire Departments annual fish fry.
Jean loved to do embroidery, crossword puzzles, and work in the garden. She and Max loved mushroom hunting and often went to Michigan to hunt after the season ended in Brown County. Her favorite activity was playing with her grandkids.
Jean always said she wanted to live to be a 100 years old, and in her mind she did because she would tell anyone who asked how old she was that she was 100. She passed away May 8, 2021 a few days short of her 89th birthday.
Jean was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Max; son, Kendall; sisters, Esther and Mary Kathryn; and brother, Ivan "Sonny".
She is survived by her daughter, Kathryn "Kaybe" (Talmadge) Evans; her daughter-in-law, Stephanie Kritzer; brother Harry Bond; grandchildren, Kelly Jean (Ryan) Boyer of Eden Prairie, MN. Kathryn Evans (Todd) Van Pelt of Fairfield, IA, Kara Evans of Carmel, IN, Kristopher (Nikki) Kritzer of Danville, IN, and Kaitlyn (Brent) Parks of Columbus, IN ; great grandchildren, Caroline and Cormac Van Pelt, Evan and Fallon Jean Boyer, Kenton and Karl (and another one on the way) Kritzer and Benjamin and Elliot Parks.
The family wishes to thank the staff of Keepsake Village of Columbus for their care and compassion these last few months.
There will be a gathering of family and friends on Friday, May 14, 2021 from 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM in Bond-Mitchell Funeral Home, 1682 State Road 135 North. Private Family Graveside Services will be held in Bond Cemetery with Pastor John Parsley officiating. Services are under the direction of Bond-Mitchell Funeral Home. Online condolences may be left for the family at <a href="http://www.bondmitchellfuneralhome.com/" target="_blank">www.BondMitchellFuneralHome.com</a>.
