Frances Lee Crabtree Rinehart

November 27, 1937 - May 24, 2026 | Fort Wayne, IN 

Frances Lee Crabtree Rinehart, 88, of Sullivan, IN, passed away on Sunday, May 24, 2026, peacefully surrounded in love by her family. Frances was born on November 27, 1937, in McCreary County Kentucky, to Willard & Goldie Ross Crabtree. She was the oldest of eight children

Frances and her family moved from Kentucky to the south side of Indianapolis when she was in high school. Frances attended and graduated from Manual High School in 1956.  While in school, Frances worked at the G.C. Murphy Dime Store in Fountain Square with her friend, Sue Rinehart. Sue would later introduce Frances to her older brother, Joe Harold Rinehart. Joe and Frances were married on August 16, 1958.

After they were married, Frances and Joe lived a few places around Indianapolis, finally settling in Lawrence prior to the birth of their second son, Dwayne.  There, Frances and Joe raised their two sons, James and Dwayne, and resided until Joe retired in 1995. The couple purchased 40 acres of farmland near Sullivan, IN. Frances and Joe lived on the farm together until Joe’s passing in May, 2012. Frances stayed at the farm until 2019, when her health no longer permitted her to live on her own. From there, she moved to Fort Wayne, IN with her son and daughter-in-law, James and Judy. Frances resided with them until her passing. 

Frances worked for G.C. Murphy when she was a teenager. But other notable jobs she held were as a telephone operator for Indiana Bell Telephone Co. in Indianapolis, and as a switchboard operator for Sears when Castleton Square Mall opened in 1972. Frances’ career job was as a Switchboard/PBX operator at AFNB, later known as BankOne and then Chase. Frances retired from BankOne after over 20 years of service. But Frances’ true talents lay in gardening. Frances’ children and grandchildren remember her gardens as those of legends, though Frances would never give herself that level of praise.

Frances lived a “no frills, no fuss” lifestyle that involved hard work and discipline. She loved her family and children dearly, but it was not necessarily a “warm and fuzzy” love. It was love that, like gardening, was expressed through cultivating and maintaining a strong environment to support growth.

And though it was heartbreaking to watch Frances, this strong, hardworking, “no frills, no fuss” woman, have to leave her farm, there was a blessing she might otherwise never have experienced. She got to stop cultivating and appreciate the fruits of her labor as they grew through the lives of her grandchildren, especially her great-grandchildren. Frances became the “Grandma Rinehart” that went to Minor League Baseball games with her great grandsons, Liam and James, who attended her great granddaughter, Sarah’s dance recitals, who would “ditch the walker” to climb down the basement stairs and see what new inventions her great grandson Charlie built, and the Grandma Rinehart who her great grandson, Austin would snuggle with every chance he could. It will be through these simple acts that Frances will forever be remembered and cherished by her family.

Frances is survived by her brother Ronnie, her two sons James Harold Rinehart (wife Judy) and Dwayne David Rinehart; her three grandchildren Jillian Eleanor Wagoner Rennaker (Kirk), James Mark Wagoner Rinehart (Mary), and Robin Lynn Rinehart; and seven great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents, Willard and Goldie Ross Crabtree, and six of her seven siblings, Harold, Willard Henry, Curtis Dean, Nim Robert. Delores Kay, and Judy Imogene.

A funeral service will be held on Saturday, May 30, 2026 at 1:00pm at Brust Funeral Home located at 400 North Court Street, Sullivan, IN. Visitation will be from 11:00AM until services Saturday. The burial will follow at Oaktown Cemetery in Oaktown, IN, following the ceremony, with a small dinner at Shiloh Church of Christ, 3521 E State Rd 54 Sullivan, IN. All are welcome to attend.