ELKHART -- Graveside services for Helen L. Karasch will take place at 10 a.m. Saturday in Rice Cemetery. The Rev. Thomas Thews of Trinity United Methodist Church will officiate. Billings Funeral Home, 812 Baldwin St., Elkhart, is in charge of arrangements.

Mrs. Karasch, 87, of Rainbow Bend Boulevard., died at 12 a.m. Dec. 24, 2005, at home.

She graduated from Elkhart High School in 1936 and from Purdue University in 1940. She attended MacMurray College from 1936 to 1938. She was a life member of the Purdue Alumni Association, Ladies of the Elks South Bend Lodge 235, the Four Arts Club, a 20-year volunteer for the Elkhart General Hospital Meals on Wheels program and a member of Trinity Diners Club. In 1955, she and her husband founded Valley Machine Products Inc. and she served as an officer of the corporation until its sale in 1972.

Memorials may be given to the Center for Hospice and Palliative Care or the Humane Society of Elkhart County. Online condolences may be sent by visiting www.billingsfuneralhome.com.