Elizabeth (MacDonald) Wilke Polen

Aug 18, 1919 - Jul 21, 1985

Elizabeth M. Wilke Polen, 65, of Fort Myers, Fla., formerly of South Bend, died Sunday in Lee Memorial Hospital, Fort Myers. Mrs. Polan was employed for 19 years at the Bendix Corp., where she retired from the marketing department in 1975.

Born Aug. 18, 1919, in Indianapolis, she lived in the South Bend area most of her life, moving to Florida four years ago. On Oct. 19, 1940, in South Bend, she married Gary Wilke. He died in 1959.

She then married Harry Polen on May 10, 1974. He survives with two daughters, Peggy DeRue of South Bend and Kathryn Linkus of Park Forest, Ill.; a son, Gary S. Wilke of Kalamazoo; eight grandchildren; and a brother, John McDonald of Niles. Memorial services will be at 10 a.m. Thursday in Fort Myers Congregational United Church of Christ.

Cremation will take place. The Fort Myers Memorial Gardens Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

She was a member of Epworth Memorial United Methodist Church in South Bend, where she served as president of WSCS.

Sources: Ancestry.com, Newspapers.com and FindAGrave.com

11/16/2025 EJS

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/263132231/elizabeth-wilke_polen