Chesterton - Beverly Jane (Hawley) Sharp Bontrager, 88 years old, of Sturgis, Michigan passed away on May 13, 2025, in Chesterton, Indiana at the Residences of Coffee Creek where she had resided for a year. She was born on January 24, 1937, in Williamsport, Indiana, to Frank and Sarah Effie (Hickman) Hawley. She was formerly married to Federal District Court Judge Allen Sharp. She married Henry Bontrager, owner and operator of Bontrager RV Surplus, Inc., September 19, 1982, in South Bend, Indiana, who survives.

During high school, she attended Hoosier Girls State at Indiana University. Upon graduating from Williamsport High School, in 1955, she received the Commercial Award from the Business Professionals Women's Organization. After graduation, she worked a year in the Warren County courthouse before attending St. Francis College in Joliet, Illinois and graduating, in 1959, from Danville, Illinois, St. Elizabeth School of Nursing. She was employed as a Registered Nurse in the Danville St. Elizabeth Hospital and at the Carle Clinic Hospital in Urbana, Illinois, for several years.

She has been a life member of the Indiana State Assembly Club, Indianapolis since 1975. She is a member of the Family Worship Center/ Son-Life Ministries in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She enjoyed traveling and traveled overseas numerous times, including five trips to Israel. Additionally, she enjoyed antiquing, visiting historical landmarks, wintering in Venice and Sarasota, Florida, and enjoyed family at her rural home, in Sturgis, watching deer and wild turkeys out her back door.

Survivors include her husband, Henry Bontrager; two daughters Crystal Sharp Bauer and her husband, Keith DeBruhl, Valparaiso, Indiana; and Scarlet Thomas and her husband Timothy, Rockford Michigan; four grandchildren; Evan Bauer, Andrew Bauer, Nathaniel Thomas, and Sarah Thomas; Sister, Martha Beckett, Boswell, Indiana; a cousin Priscilla (Wilfried) Hildebrandt, Ypsilanti, Michigan; and several nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by a sister, Anita June Pitzer of Attica and her husband Reid Pitzer; and a brother, Charles Hawley of Casper, Wyoming, and his wife Emma Hawley. Friends and relatives can call at Maus Funeral Home, Attica, for Visitation at 12:00 p.m., Wednesday, May 21, 2025, with a Funeral/Memorial Service following at 1:00 p.m. Instead of flowers, contributions in her name can be made to Dunes Hospice 4711 Evans Avenue, Valparaiso, Indiana, 46383 or to Duneshospicellc.com. Any card, letters, or other memorial items can be mailed to Crystal Sharp Bauer, 1307 Parkway Ct, Valparaiso, Indiana or emailed to cbauerjd@gmail.com or posted on the funeral homes website of Maus Funeral Home at www.mausfuneralhome.com.