NORTH WEBSTER – Billy Joe “Bill” Hiatt, 78, Fort Wayne, and formerly of Warsaw, passed away at 8:20 a.m. April 2, 2015, at his residence. He was born Jan. 8, 1937, in Piqua, Ohio, to Elster and Mary Pollock Hiatt. On July 8, 1961, in Tipton, he married Bette K. Leisure, who survives in Fort Wayne. He graduated in 1955 from Wendell Wilke High School, Elwood. He was raised in Madison County, lived in Grant County for 35 years after he was married, moved to Warsaw (Sechrist Lake) in 2006 before moving to Fort Wayne in 2014. He was employed at Ex-cell-o Corp. in Elwood for 20 years, CTX Expedited Company in Detroit, Mich., and was a farmer for 35 years before retiring in 1997. He was a member of the United Methodist Church and the Elks Lodge, both in Elwood. He attended the United Methodist Church in North Webster and The Chapel in Fort Wayne. He is survived by a daughter, Leeanna Kirkwood, Warsaw; two sons, Christopher (and spouse Sharon) Hiatt, Rochester, and David Hiatt, Fort Wayne; four granddaughters: Annie Cool, Abbie Kirkwood, Felicia Svarczkopf and Chantal Hiatt; and a brother, Jerry (and spouse Judy) Hiatt, Anderson. He was preceded in death by his parents; a stepmother, Eleanor Hiatt; and a brother, Kent Hiatt. Services will be at 4 p.m. Monday at Owen Family Funeral Home, Ind. 13 and CR 500N, North Webster, with Pastor Gary Endersby of The Chapel officiating. Burial is in Knox Chapel Cemetery, Fairmount, at a later date. Calling is from 2 to 4 p.m. Monday at the funeral home. ***** Memorials to the Senior Primelife Enrichment Center, P. O. Box 471, North Webster, IN 46555; or Visiting Nurse Hospice, 5910 Homestead Rd., Fort Wayne, IN 46814. Envelopes are available at the funeral home. Condolences may be sent via www.owenfamilfuneralhome.com
