After a brief illness, Lara Beth (Hohenberger) Sheets, 73, entered into eternity. She was married to her husband, Bill Sheets, for 51 years. For the past 20 years they made their home in Fort Collins, Colorado, where Lara Beth worked as a speech pathologist. Her work focused on helping patients with brain injuries or nerve damage relearn how to swallow safely, preventing aspiration and the pneumonia that can follow.
Lara Beth earned her degrees from Purdue University and went on to establish the first Speech Rehabilitation department at the hospital in Lebanon, Indiana, where she also developed the program’s initial treatment protocols. In later years she specialized in swallowing rehabilitation. Whether living in Fairfax, Virginia, Lexington, Kentucky, or Fort Collins, Colorado, she consistently sought opportunities to serve others through her work in the medical field.
As a young girl in grade school, Lara Beth heard a sermon that led her to a deep personal faith in Jesus Christ. She came to believe that Jesus, the Son of God, had died and risen again to forgive her sins and give her new life. The experience filled her with joy, and she eagerly shared her faith with others. When she and Bill were married, she asked that their wedding invitation note that the ceremony would take place in the presence of God, and the couple shared communion as their first act together as husband and wife.
Lara Beth loved being a mother to Elisa Beth, Annemarie, and David. When her children were young, she especially enjoyed planning family trips to hike and camp, and watching meteor showers together beneath the open skies of the Great Plains and in the Rocky Mountains.
Music was another lifelong passion. As a child she taught her sister Leah to play piano, and she herself went on to play piano and organ for various social events. As an adult she served in church music ministries, playing for services and functions at St. Matthew’s Church in Frankfort, Indiana, Federated Church in West Lafayette, Indiana, and performing for three years as an accompanist in the Purdue Musical Organizations Christmas shows.
She is survived by her husband William Max Sheets, daughter Elisa and her significant other Jeffrey Lawrence; her son David and his wife Catherine “Cat”, parents of William and Lauren; her sister Leah Davis and her husband Jon, parents of Megan, Greg, and Jonathan of College Station, Texas; and her brother John George Hohenberger III, and his wife Susan, parents of Claire, Emily, and Kurt, of Leland, Illinois.
Lara Beth was the daughter of George and Wanda Hohenberger, both deceased. She was preceded in death by her daughter, Annemarie.
Visitation will be from 12 Noon-2 p.m. Saturday, March 14, 2026 at Goodwin Funeral Home, 200 S. Main St., Frankfort. Funeral services will begin at 2 p.m. at the funeral home. Burial will be in Green Lawn Memorial Park. Please visit goodwinfuneralhome.com to leave a condolence.