Sue Creighton is shown on a cruise she took with her husband to Cozumel, a Mexican island in the Caribbean Sea.

WARSAW — Although there is a perception those of a more elderly age are not interested in or avoid computers, it is not always an accurate assumption. Many have not only learned how to operate a computer, but can do so effectively.

Sue Creighton is but one example. Her husband, Steve, joked he would submit a photo of her seated at her computer at home for her obituary “because I am on it so much,” she said.

A 1962 graduate of Mentone High School who grew up at Crystal Lake where her father, Elery Nellans, ran an apple orchard for many years, Sue was married not long after graduation to her high school sweetheart, Steve Creighton, a 1960 graduate of Atwood High School. “I wanted to be a stay at home mom and have a big family,” she commented.

Life interrupted as it so often does and Sue found herself needing extra money because she and Steve had a new home built, so she went to work. She worked at what was then known as Farmers State Bank in Mentone, then also at DePuy for a short period of time.

Eventually, Creighton became employed at United Telephone Company of Indiana as a typing clerk in the engineering department. “In those days, women were usually clerks or operators when working for a phone company,” she noted.

Creighton worked her way up at the phone company and ended her career in 1997 as vice president-carrier and enhanced services for the north central region based in Mansfield, Ohio. United Telephone was eventually bought out by Sprint.

Along her career path, she managed to earn associates and bachelor’s degrees from IPFW and Indiana Wesleyan University respectively and also completed an advanced management program through Duke University.

Keeping busy with traveling, scrapbooking and grandchildren, a major project recently has been being the editor of the “Mentone High School History Book” scheduled to go to press this week. It took seven months for Creighton and a committee to complete the 162-page book.

Of course in the digital age the book was compiled and edited on computers and will contain numerous class and other photos, a history of all the buildings connected to Mentone High School, a tribute to military veterans including a few killed during combat and more.

“We made every effort to select photos and memories that reflected the MHS experiences we all remembered,” she said.

Creighton also does communications for the Altrusa Club of Warsaw and the district level of the club. And she posts regularly on the Facebook pages of seven organizations including her church, for Steve, who is a nationally recognized artist, the Mentone High School Alumni Committee and others.

As if that was not enough, she also served on several different boards including, but not limited to, the Beaman Home, Kosciusko Community Hospital, Kosciusko County chapter of the American Red Cross and others. She has also been honored as a Distinguished Alumni of the Tippecanoe Valley School Corporation in 2018, the Kosciusko County Community Foundation Heart of Gold Award in 2015 and in 2013 was given the Altrusa District Six Governor’s Award.

It was noted earlier Creighton enjoys scrapbooking and she has made scrapbooks for each grandchild when they graduate from high school. “I have one more to go,” she said, noting a grandchild is still in middle school.

Sue and Steve, who live in Warsaw, have two daughters: Amy Hardison, living in Charlotte, N.C., and Angie Steinbech, living in St. Louis. Between the two daughters, they have seven children.

Sue and Steve are members of Otterbein United Methodist Church in Atwood where Sue is the worship leader and historian.